Metabolic advantage.....

This seems to be about high protein rather than low carb....

Effects of two energy-restricted diets differing in the carbohydrate/protein ratio on weight loss and oxidative changes of obese men.

Introduction Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets are a current challenge in the nutritional treatment of obesity.
Objective To compare the effect of a low-carbohydrate high-protein diet with a traditional hypocaloric diet on weight loss and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. Subjects and methods Nineteen obese men (age 36+/-6 years; body mass index 34+/-2 kg/m(2)) were randomized to follow one of the two diets-control diet (15% protein; 30% lipids; 55% carbohydrates) or high-protein diet (30% protein; 30% lipids; 40% carbohydrates)-over an 8-week period. Anthropometry, biochemical variables, resting energy expenditure and mitochondrial oxidation were measured at the start and at the end of the intervention.
Results The high-protein diet produced a greater weight loss (-8.3+/-1.2% versus -5.5+/-2.5%, P=0.012) than the control diet. Interestingly, an activation in the mitochondrial oxidation was found in the high-protein-fed group. This stimulation was positively correlated with the final resting energy expenditure and negatively associated with the final fat mass content.
Conclusion Low-carbohydrate high-protein diets could involve specific changes in mitochondrial oxidation that could be related to a higher weight loss.