title: Effects of low (LCD) and very low (VLCD) energy diets on metabolic rate and body composition in obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats.
abstract: This study was designed to test the effects of reducing body weight by restricting the energy intake of obese rats to levels equivalent to human low (LCD) and very low (VLCD) calorie diets. Two groups of weight-matched obese Zucker rats were fed either 3 g/day of the Cambridge diet (VLCD group), or 11 g/day of a stock diet (LCD group) until their body weight had fallen to that of an age-matched group of lean Zucker rats. The rate of weight loss was twice as fast in the VLCD group. Daily energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate was depressed equally (by 55-60 per cent) in both groups. The percentage of fat and fat-free mass of VLCD rats was unchanged by weight loss, but fat (per cent) was increased and fat-free mass (per cent) decreased in LCD rats. It is concluded that the depression in metabolic rate and changes in body composition induced by severe energy restriction are no greater, or even less than that produced by more modest energy restriction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Stock
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D001823:Body Composition; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000178:diet therapy*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D051381:Rats; D011924:Rats, Zucker; D015431:Weight Loss