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Popular Diets Study

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Obesity
Insulin Resistance
Interventions
Other: Low glycemic index diet
Other: Low fat diet
Other: Very low carbohydrate diet
Registration Number
NCT00315354
Lead Sponsor
Boston Children's Hospital
Brief Summary

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of three dominant dietary patterns - conventional low-fat, low-glycemic index (GI) and very-low-carbohydrate - on energy metabolism and heart disease risk factors following weight loss in obese young adults in a feeding study

Detailed Description

For most of the last half century, reduction in fat intake has been the primary nutritional approach for the prevention and treatment of obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Over the last few years, very low carbohydrate (Atkins-type) diets have achieved great popularity, with publication of several studies suggesting greater weight loss and improvements in CVD risk factors over 3 to 6 months. Recently, a third dietary approach focused on glycemic index (GI) has generated interest. However, few studies have compared the effects of these diets on body weight regulation and risk for CVD. The primary hypotheses of this study are that any diet that lowers the postprandial rise in blood glucose (very-low-carbohydrate or low-GI) will have beneficial effects on the physiological adaptations to weight loss and on some CVD risk factors. However, other CVD risk factors will be adversely affected by a very-low-carbohydrate vs. a low-GI diet. Preliminary data provide strong support for these hypotheses, by showing that resting energy expenditure declines less and CVD risk factors improve more with weight loss on a low-glycemic load diet compared to a conventional low-fat diet. This application proposes a cross-over feeding design to study the effects of three diets following 12.5% weight loss in obese young adult subjects (n = 24, age 18 to 40 years). The diets are: 1) conventional low-fat, with 60% carb, 20% fat, 20% protein; 2) low-GI with 40% carb, 40% fat, 20% protein; and 3) very-low-carbohydrate with 10% carb, 60% fat, 30% protein. The primary outcome is resting energy expenditure (indirect calorimetry). Secondary outcomes include total energy expenditure (doubly labeled water), thermic effect of food (indirect calorimetry), physical activity (accelerometry), insulin resistance and B-cell function (frequently-sampled OGTT), blood lipids, blood pressure and measures of systemic inflammation and coagulopathy. This study should have major public health implications to the millions of Americans currently following diets to decrease body weight and risk for heart disease.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
24
Inclusion Criteria
  • BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2
  • Willing and able to come to the GCRC 5 days per week to consume a supervised meal and pick-up food for all other meals
  • Available for scheduled hospital admissions
  • Willing to abstain from alcohol consumption for the duration of the study
  • If female, regular menstrual cycles (defined as 26 to 30 days between cycles; no more than one day variation in the duration of menstrual flow)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Weight > 350 lbs
  • Change in body weight (± 10%) over preceding year
  • Taking any medications or dietary supplements that might affect body weight, appetite, or energy expenditure
  • Smoking (1 cigarette in the last week)
  • High levels of physical activity
  • Currently following a special diet
  • Abnormal laboratory screening tests
  • Type 2 diabetes mellitus
  • Allergies or aversions to foods on the study menu
  • Previous diagnosis of an eating disorder or any other mental health disorder
  • If female, pregnant in the past 12 months or planning to become pregnant during the study period
  • If female, lactating in the preceding 12 months
  • If taking birth control medication, change in medication in previous 3 months or plans to change medication during the study period

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
1Low glycemic index dietLow glycemic index diet
2Low fat dietLow fat diet
3Very low carbohydrate dietVery low carbohydrate diet
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
resting energy expenditure using indirect calorimetry in the fasting stateend of each dietary period
thyroid function testsend of each dietary period
insulin resistance assessed by frequently-sampled oral glucose tolerance testend of each dietary period
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
fibroblast growth factor-21end of each dietary period
trimethylamine N-oxidefasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
Uric acidend of each dietary period
blood pressureend of each dietary period
serum lipidsend of each dietary period
Core temperatureEnd of each dietary period
total energy expenditure using doubly labeled water methodologyend of each dietary period
thermic effect of food using indirect calorimetryend of each dietary period
plasminogen activator inhibitor-1end of each dietary period
Metabolomic analysisend of each dietary period

Evaluate the effect of diet on metabolomic profile in plasma, with the aim of assessing dietary adherence and exploring diet-disease mechanisms

physical activity using accelerometryend of each dietary period
insulin 30 minutes after oral glucose (as an effect modifier)baseline
heme-oxygenaseend of each dietary period
C-reactive proteinend of each dietary period
hunger/appetiteend of each dietary period
Irisinend of each dietary period
alanine aminotransferaseend of each dietary period
ghrelinfasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
gastric inhibitory peptidefasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
GLP1fasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
Amylinfasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
secreted frizzle-related protein-4end of each dietary period
Leptinend of each dietary period
chemerinend of each dietary period
insulinfasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period
PYYfasting and postprandial, end of each dietary period

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Children's Hospital Boston

🇺🇸

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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