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Dietary protein affects the composition of weight loss in post‐menopausal women
Author(s) -
Kritchevsky Stephen B,
Easter Linda,
Lyles Mary,
Houston Denise K,
Kennedy Kimberly,
Nicklas Barbara J
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a142-c
Subject(s) - lean body mass , weight loss , sarcopenia , medicine , zoology , fat mass , post menopausal , dual energy , obesity , composition (language) , lean tissue , body mass index , body weight , endocrinology , menopause , biology , bone mineral , osteoporosis , linguistics , philosophy
Though many older adults are obese, physicians are reluctant to recommend weight loss for fear of accelerating sarcopenia. In a pilot study, we compared two hypocaloric diets (400 kcal d −1 deficit); one maintaining dietary protein intake at 30% of energy intake (1.2 g kg −1 d −1 based on initial body weight; HIP), and the other maintaining dietary protein intake at 15–20% of energy intake (LOP). Post‐menopausal obese women (n = 24; HIP = 9; LOP = 15; mean age = 58 ± 6.6; mean BMI = 33.0 ± 3.6) were provided meals from our GCRC kitchen for 5 months. Body composition was assessed by dual energy absorptiometry. The HIP group lost 8.4 ± 4.5 kg and the LOP group lost 11.4 ± 3.8 kg (p = 0.11). The mean percentage of total mass lost as lean mass was 15.7% ± 27.1% and 37.5% ± 14.6%, respectively (p = 0.05). The regression coefficients relating lean mass loss to total mass loss were 0.24 kg/kg and 0.32 kg/kg, respectively. These data suggest that maintaining adequate protein intake can reduce but not eliminate lean mass losses associated with weight loss in older women. This work was supported by the WFUBMC GCRC (M01‐RR07122) and WFU OAIC (P30 AG‐021332).