Abstract
Background and Purpose: The increasing prevalence of overweight and obese adults warrants improved dietary strategies for weight management and metabolic control. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a high-protein diet on leptin regulation. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of data collected from a randomized controlled trial, conducted in 90 overweight adults (age: 47.5 ± 7.5 yrs.; BMI: 31.5 ± 2.3 kg/m2) who were followed over a 24-week control period. Changes in leptin levels were quantified to determine the influence of age, gender, leptin baseline levels, weight loss and intervention type. Participants were randomized into 3 interventions groups: 1) therapeutic lifestyle changes, (LS); 2) standardized meal replacement (Almased®) (MR); and 3) standardized meal replacement accompanied by supervised physical training (MRPT). For the analyses, both diet groups (MR, MRPT) were pooled into one common group and compared to the LS group in a parallel two-group study design with endpoint assessment after 24 weeks of intervention. Results: In total, 83 participants completed the 24-week study. Significant improvements in body composition and metabolic regulation occurred in all intervention participants regardless of their group assignment (LS; MR, MRPT). Participants’ consumption of the meal replacement (MR; MRPT) had an independent, significant effect on serum leptin levels (-15.5 ± 7.5 and -12.5 ± 7.8 vs. -8.7 ± 6.1 ng/ml). Greater body weight reductions were also observed in the diet groups (-8.9 ± 3.9 kg) compared to the LS group (-6.2 ± 4.2 kg). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that meal replacement can safely and effectively produce significant weight loss, which may be in part due to a reduction in plasma leptin levels. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00356785
Highlights
Obesity levels have dramatically increased in the United States (US) and in the majority of European countries during the past few decades [1,2,3]
The data from the first analysis in the original study [11, 12] indicated that there were no significant differences between meal replacement (MR) and MRPT (p > 0.1) (Table 1)
For this secondary data analysis, both meal replacement groups using the meal replacement formula were merged into a single group (MR/MRPT) and compared to the lifestyle group (LS) with endpoint assessment after 24 weeks of intervention (Table 2)
Summary
Obesity levels have dramatically increased in the United States (US) and in the majority of European countries during the past few decades [1,2,3]. A study in 2001 [4] revealed increases in obesity among US adults for both sexes and across all ages, ethnic backgrounds, educational levels and smoking levels. A chronic imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure appears to play a role in the development of obesity [5, 6]. Serum leptin levels may have a potential role in the prediction of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance [7]. Serum leptin levels may influence weight loss and weight-loss maintenance through lifestyle changes in overweight adults [8, 9]. As a circulating adipokine, is a regulatory factor for food intake, energy expenditure and body fat distribution. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a high-protein diet on leptin regulation
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