--- title: Study: Cutting Carbs Twice a Week Better than Full-On Diet description: Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. According to new research, you might do better to cut carbs... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7139773/study-cutting-carbs-two-days-a-week-is-better-than-full-time-dieting/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-12-08T19:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T10:40:43.829Z article:section: Health og:title: Study: Cutting Carbs Twice a Week Better than Full-On Diet og:description: Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. According to new research, you might do better to cut carbs... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7139773/study-cutting-carbs-two-days-a-week-is-better-than-full-time-dieting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbbc8fb2056d4e94/698a93f7c9e9416b44123a60/downloadedfile-5.png?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: DownloadedFile-5 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study: Cutting Carbs Twice a Week Better than Full-On Diet twitter:description: Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. According to new research, you might do better to cut carbs... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbbc8fb2056d4e94/698a93f7c9e9416b44123a60/downloadedfile-5.png?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Study: Cutting Carbs Two Days a Week Is Better than Full-Time Dieting > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5d382241-13c8-4d68-b58f-a03c8d4019b8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 8, 2011 7:00 PM UTC  Kieran Scott / Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 8, 2011 7:00 PM UTC Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. According to new research, you might do better to cut carbs just two days a week instead of going low cal every day.more In a recent study, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, British researchers found that women who eliminated carbohydrate-rich foods like bread, pasta, potatoes and rice two days a week and ate their normal diet the rest of the time lost an average of 9 lb. over four months. Meanwhile, women in a similar group who ate a 1,500-cal.-per-day Mediterranean-style diet for the same time period lost only 5 lb. Women on the intermittent diet not only lost more weight but also showed greater improvements on other markers of health, including levels of insulin and leptin. The study was borne of the researchers’ efforts to come up with a diet that people could actually stick with, especially women who are at high risk of breast cancer. Obesity is a known risk factor for the disease, and hormones like [insulin](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090109173207.htm) and [leptin](http://www.nature.com/cr/journal/v18/n11/full/cr2008293a.html) are also associated with tumor development. “Weight loss and reduced insulin levels are required for breast-cancer prevention, but \[these levels\] are difficult to achieve and maintain with conventional dietary approaches,” lead author Michelle Harvie, a research dietitian at the Genesis Prevention Center at the University Hospital in South Manchester, England, said in a statement. **MORE:** [Boot Camp, Part 1: An Exercise in No Pain, No Gain and Slow Carbs](http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/09/boot-camp-part-1-an-exercise-in-no-pain-no-gain/) All 115 women who participated in the study were at high risk of breast cancer based on their family histories of the disease. They were randomly assigned to one of three diets: a two-day-a-week low-carb diet that restricted calories to 650 on the carb-free days; a similar low-carb diet, except with no calorie restriction (participants were allowed to load up on protein and healthy fats, such as lean meats, olives and nuts, on no-carb days); or a standard 1,500-calorie-a-day Mediterranean-style diet seven days a week. Both intermittently dieting groups lost more weight and saw more improvements in insulin resistance, compared with the Mediterranean-style diet group. The group that ate the calorie-restricted, low-carb diet fared a little better when it came to insulin levels, however, reducing insulin resistance by 22%, compared with 14% for the unrestricted low-carb dieters and 4% for those on the Mediterranean diet. The researchers said the results were compelling enough to warrant further study on the relationship between carbohydrate consumption and breast cancer. _Meredith Melnick is a reporter at_ TIME_. Find her on Twitter at_ [_@MeredithCM_](http://twitter.com/#%21/MeredithCM)_. You can also continue the discussion on_ TIME’s[_Facebook page_](http://www.facebook.com/time) _and on Twitter at_ [_@TIME_](http://twitter.com/#%21/TIME)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7139773/study-cutting-carbs-two-days-a-week-is-better-than-full-time-dieting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7139773/study-cutting-carbs-two-days-a-week-is-better-than-full-time-dieting/"},"headline":"Study: Cutting Carbs Two Days a Week Is Better than Full-Time Dieting","datePublished":"2011-12-08T19:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T10:40:43.829Z","description":"Good news for dieters who feel that counting calories has become a full-time job. 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