Aim: 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 Study design: a randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial.
Subjects: 42 men and women (men n=20, aged 18-57 years; women n=22, aged 18-52 years) who were sedentary and overweight (body mass index >25 kg m2) completed one of two 8-week conditions: 1) a diet with glucomannan with no exercise (No-Ex) or (2) adiet with glucomannan combined with a resistance and endurance exercise training program (Ex). Each participant ingested 1500 mg of glucomannan before each of the 2 largest meals every day for 8 weeks. Body mass, body composition, maximal strength, cardiovascular endurance, blood lipids, and metabolic markers were measured before and after the 8-week intervention.
Results: there were reductions (p<0,05) 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 (men, -17,9+/-21,5 and -18,8+/-19,4 mg dL-1; women, -9,3+/-20,0 and -10,1+/-19,5 mg dL-1; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Exercise significantly improved high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (No-Ex, -2,0+/-4,7 and -2,3+/-4,5 mg dL-1 vs Ex, 4,4+/-10,8 and 1,6+/-3,6 mg dL-1; men and women, respectively), TC/HDL-C ratio. 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.
Authors’ conclusion: addition of a resistance and endurance exercise training program to a glucomannan diet regimen significantly improved measures of body composition, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol / high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio.
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