Abstract
Background and aim
Very low carbohydrate ad libitum diets have been shown to enhance weight loss without increasing cardiometabolic risk
factors but no kilojoule-controlled trials have been conducted relative to no intervention.
The aim of this study was to compare the changes in weight and other cardiovascular
risk factors in 3 isocaloric energy-restricted diets to no-intervention control after
1 year.
Methods and results
One hundred and thirteen subjects (age 47±10 years, BMI 32±6 kg/m2 with one additional cardiovascular risk factor) were randomly allocated to one of
three isocaloric diets (VLC-very low carbohydrate, 60% fat, 4% carbohydrate, n=30; VLF-very low fat, 10% fat, n=30; HUF-high unsaturated fat, 30% fat, n=30) with intensive support for 3 months followed by minimal support for 12 months
compared to a control group (no intervention, n=23). The estimated weight change was −3.0±0.2 kg for VLC, −2.0±0.1 kg for VLF, −3.7±0.01 kg for HUF and 0.8±0.5 kg for controls (P=0.065). After correcting for baseline values, decreases in body weight and diastolic
blood pressure in the diet groups (−2.9±5.2) were significantly different to the increase in the control group (0.8±5.0) (P<0.05). No differences in cardiovascular risk factors were observed between the diet
groups.
Conclusion
Significant cardiometabolic risk factor reduction was observed equally with VLC, VLF
and HUF diets after 15 months, compared to an exacerbation of risk factors in the
control group. At a modest level of adherence, 3 months of intensive support on these
dietary patterns confer an improvement in cardiometabolic profile compared to no dietary
intervention after 15 months.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 20, 2009
Accepted:
May 6,
2009
Received in revised form:
April 21,
2009
Received:
January 12,
2009
Footnotes
☆Funding source: This study was supported by a National Heart Foundation, Australia and CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition, Adelaide, Australia.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
