Effect of Adding Exercise to a Diet Containing Glucomannan

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of adding a total-body exercise program to an 8-week diet supplemented with glucomannan on weight loss, body composition, blood parameters, and physical performance in overweight men and women. Sedentary men and women who were overweight (body mass index N25 kg m) (men: 18-57 years, 27.0 ± 11.2 years, 177.5 ± 7.6 cm, 102.4 ± 14.9 kg; women: 18-52 years, 33.4 ± 12.1 years, 160.6 ± 4.6 cm, 79.9 ± 9.3 kg) completed an 8-week diet with 3000 mg glucomannan combined with either no exercise (No-Ex) (10 men, 10 women) or a resistance and endurance exercise training program (Ex) (12 men, 10 women). The diet emphasized healthy food choices and portion size control. The exercise training consisted of 3 weekly sessions of approximately 1 hour of a nonlinear periodized total-body resistance exercise program followed by 30 minutes of endurance exercise. After the intervention, there were reductions (P b .05) in body mass (men, −2.7 ± 1.4 and −3.0 ± 4.0 kg; women, −2.2 ± 1.5 and −3.3 ± 1.5 kg; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), fat mass (men, −2.3 ± 1.6 and −3.9 ± 2.5 kg; women, −2.6 ± 1.4 and −3.6 ± 1.1 kg; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), total cholesterol (TC) (men, −17.9 ± 21.5 and −18.8 ± 19.4 mg dL; women, −9.3 ± 20.0 and −10.1 ± 19.5 mg dL; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Exercise significantly improved high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) (No-Ex, −2.0 ± 4.7 and −2.3 ± 4.5 mg dL vs Ex, 4.4 ± 10.8 and 1.6 ± 3.6 mg dL; men and women, respectively), TC/HDL-C ratio, squat and bench press 1-repetition maximum, and distance covered during a shuttle-run test. In addition, exercise appeared to augment the reduction in fat mass (by 63% and 50%; men and women, respectively) and waist circumference, but did not affect total weight loss. Addition of a resistance and endurance exercise training program to a glucomannan diet regimen significantly improved measures of body composition, HDL-C, and TC/HDL-C ratio. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.