Biomaterial Database

Diet and body composition. Effect of very low calorie diets and exercise. 1991

J E Donnelly, and J Jakicic, and S Gunderson

Human Performance Laboratory, University of Nebraska, Kearney.

Obesity is the presence of excess body fat and is associated with a variety of medical conditions which increase morbidity and mortality. Millions of individuals participate in weight-reduction programmes which include reduced calorie diets and may also include exercise. Very low calorie diets (VLCD) of 400 to 800 kcal/day appear attractive as they generally show an increase in weight loss from 0.2 to 0.5 kg/week found with the traditional diet to 1.5 to 2.0 kg/week. Early use of very low calorie diets with poor quality protein and loose medical supervision resulted in about 60 deaths, many of which were attributed to loss of lean body mass and in particular, cardiac muscle atrophy. Although current very low calorie diets are presumed safe, concern regarding preservation of lean body mass (LBM) remains. Investigators have used exercise to slow the depletion of lean body mass during very low calorie diets; however, the results are not conclusive. A host of different methodologies and questionable documentation and design of exercise protocols precludes a definitive statement for the benefits of exercise during very low calorie diets for the purpose of LBM retention.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009765	Obesity	A status with BODY WEIGHT that is grossly above the recommended standards, usually due to accumulation of excess FATS in the body. The standards may vary with age, sex, genetic or cultural background. In the BODY MASS INDEX, a BMI greater than 30.0 kg/m2 is considered obese, and a BMI greater than 40.0 kg/m2 is considered morbidly obese (MORBID OBESITY).
D001823	Body Composition	The relative amounts of various components in the body, such as percentage of body fat.	Body Compositions,Composition, Body,Compositions, Body
D002149	Energy Intake	Total number of calories taken in daily whether ingested or by parenteral routes.	Caloric Intake,Calorie Intake,Intake, Calorie,Intake, Energy
D004038	Diet, Reducing	A diet designed to cause an individual to lose weight.	Weight Loss Diet,Weight Reduction Diet,Diet, Weight Loss,Diet, Weight Reduction,Diets, Reducing,Diets, Weight Loss,Diets, Weight Reduction,Reducing Diet,Reducing Diets,Weight Loss Diets,Weight Reduction Diets
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014891	Weight Lifting	A sport in which weights are lifted competitively or as an exercise.	Lifting, Weight,Liftings, Weight,Weight Liftings
D015431	Weight Loss	Decrease in existing BODY WEIGHT.	Weight Reduction,Loss, Weight,Losses, Weight,Reduction, Weight,Reductions, Weight,Weight Losses,Weight Reductions
D015444	Exercise	Physical activity which is usually regular and done with the intention of improving or maintaining PHYSICAL FITNESS or HEALTH. Contrast with PHYSICAL EXERTION which is concerned largely with the physiologic and metabolic response to energy expenditure.	Aerobic Exercise,Exercise, Aerobic,Exercise, Isometric,Exercise, Physical,Isometric Exercise,Physical Activity,Acute Exercise,Exercise Training,Activities, Physical,Activity, Physical,Acute Exercises,Aerobic Exercises,Exercise Trainings,Exercise, Acute,Exercises,Exercises, Acute,Exercises, Aerobic,Exercises, Isometric,Exercises, Physical,Isometric Exercises,Physical Activities,Physical Exercise,Physical Exercises,Training, Exercise,Trainings, Exercise
D015992	Body Mass Index	An indicator of body density as determined by the relationship of BODY WEIGHT to BODY HEIGHT. BMI	Quetelet Index,Quetelet's Index,Index, Body Mass,Index, Quetelet,Quetelets Index