Effect of diets and low-density on weight maintenance Lesser and risk of cardiovascular disease

Little is known about the effects of a low energy dense diet on weight maintenance and cardiovascular risks following a recent weight reduction. Therefore, we assessed if weight maintenance, lipid profiles and glycemic control differ between low energy density diet and usual diet consumers following a recent weight reduction. Seventy patients with the history of weight reduction in the recent one year were recruited in this randomized controlled clinical trial study in a parallel design. Test group were administered a low energy density diet contained 30% fat, 15% protein and 55% carbohydrate while the control group administered a usual diet including 35% fat, 15% protein and 50% carbohydrate for 7 months. 3 days food records were used for assessing the dietary intake. Biochemical markers and anthropometric measures were done according to the standard protocol. Weight reduced in low energy density diet consumers compared to usual diet consumers (-0.3±0.2 vs. 1.3±0.4%, P=0.002). The results was the same regarding waist circumference (-0.4±0.2 vs. 0.3±0.1%, P=0.004). Fasting blood sugar also decreased in low energy density diet group (-9.5±0.8 vs. 0.4±1.0%, P=0.0001). Low energy density diet group had a drop in percent change of their total cholesterol (-0.4±0.5vs2.05±0.4%, P= 0.04) and LDL-cholesterol (4.8±0.9 vs. -0.3±0.9%, P= 0.002). Our findings confirmed beneficial effects of low energy density diet on attenuating weight regain in subjects with history of recent weight reduction. It might be derived from higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and fiber among low energy density diet than usual diet consumers.