BACKGROUND: More than one billion human adults worldwide are overweight and, therefore, are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and a variety of other chronic perturbations. Many believe that use of natural dietary supplements could aid in the struggle against obesity. So-called "starch blockers" are listed among natural ...

The fundamental niche of a species is rarely if ever realized because the presence of other species restricts it to a narrower range of ecological conditions. The effects of this narrower range of conditions define how resources are partitioned. Resource partitioning has been inferred but not demonstrated previously for sympatric ...

A positive correlation is well established between obesity and the susceptibility to develop metabolic syndrome, a multifactorial disease dramatically associated with an enhanced mortality risk in the developed world. A high prevalence of obesity has recently been described at La Réunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean. Anthropometry ...

Previously, inducing inactivity for 53 h after 21 days of voluntary running resulted in a 25 and 48% increase in epididymal and omental fat pad weights, respectively, while rats continued to eat more than a group that never had access to a running wheel (J Physiol 565: 911-925, 2005). We ...

Caralluma fimbriata is an edible cactus, used by tribal Indians to suppress hunger and enhance endurance. The effect of Caralluma extract was assessed in overweight individuals by a placebo controlled randomized trial. Fifty adult men and women (25-60 years) with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m2 were ...

CONTEXT: Reduced energy intake is a primary factor in HIV-associated wasting. Megestrol acetate (MA) stimulates appetite and weight gain. However, much of the weight gained is fat, possibly as a result of MA-induced hypogonadism. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine whether coadministration of testosterone with MA could ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) of body composition using three different methods against DXA in overweight and obese men. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Forty-three healthy overweight or obese men (ages 25 to 60 years; BMI, 28 to 43 kg/m(2)) underwent BIA assessment of body composition using the ImpediMed ...

PURPOSE: This study was designed (1) to examine the effects of a 10,000 steps d(-1) exercise prescription on sedentary, overweight/obese adults, and (2) to examine the effects of adherence on body composition and cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: Fifty-six overweight/obese adults participated in the study. Body composition and cardiovascular risk factors ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There is little research about the relation of REE and insulin resistance with gender. The aim of our work was to study gender differences in REE and insulin resistance in obese patients. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A population of 131 obesity patients was analyzed in a prospective ...

This work concerns the questions if and to what extent social variables past and present, and actual sports activity and nutritional and smoking habits, have an influence on body compartment indices, and how this differs between female and male medical students from Wrocław, Poland. Backward stepwise regression was applied to ...

BACKGROUND: Sugar cane cutters in south-eastern Brazil are temporarily hired for the harvest period of 8 months. They often have minimal benefits and may not receive adequate nutrition. AIMS: To evaluate alterations in weight and body composition of sugar cane cutters during harvest with the use of protein-energy and electrolyte ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the safety and efficacy of a chitosan dietary supplement on body composition under free-living conditions. DESIGN: In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled dietary intervention protocol, subjects were assigned to a treatment group (TRT), a placebo group (PLA) and a control group (CTL). SUBJECTS: A total of 150 overweight ...

BACKGROUND: Birth weight has been positively associated with risk of overweight in later life. However, little information exists on how weight and length at birth are associated with subsequent lean and total body fat. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between weight and length at birth and body composition and fat ...

OBJECTIVE: Patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), both Japanese and Caucasian, have an abnormal body composition with pronounced abdominal obesity. This study aimed to evaluate changes in trunk fat with GH treatment. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Sixty-one Japanese adult GH deficient patients (mean age 37 years) were ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare estimates of total and truncal fatness from eight-electrode bioelectrical impedance analysis equipment (BIA(8)) with those from DXA in centrally obese women. The secondary aim was to examine BMI and waist circumference (WC) as proxy measures for percentage total body fat (%TBF) and truncal body fat percentage (tr%BF). ...

No research has been done on the body mass index values of the 19th-century Mexican population. This paper introduces a new data source of 19th-century Mexican male inmates in American prisons and finds that the majority of Mexican body mass was in the normal range (18.5-24.9). Few Mexicans were underweight ...

Whole-body counters (WBCs) are special instruments for measuring internal irradiation doses and are usually housed within or around nuclear facilities in the event of unexpected radiation emergencies. As a substantial proportion of total body potassium (TBK) is found in fat-free mass (FFM), FFM volume can be predicted from WBC-measured (40)K. ...

We have identified a subset of metabolically obese, but normal weight individuals, with potentially increased risks of developing the metabolic syndrome, despite their normal body mass index. We determined the relationship among body fat distribution, resting metabolic rate (RMR), total body water amount (%TBW), selected gene polymorphism on interleukin-15 receptor-alpha ...

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to establish and understand how the fractional losses of fat, fat-free tissues, and selected nutrients compare with that of body mass during a 44-d voluntary starvation (water only) and measurements of nutrient status. METHODS: We used anthropometry, sequential measurements of urinary substances during the fast, and blood ...

Mouse lines long-term selected for high fatness offer the possibility to identify individual genes involved in the development of obesity. The Berlin Fat Mouse (BFM) line has been selected for low protein content and afterward for high fatness. Three Berlin Fat Mouse Inbred (BFMI) lines, which are derivates of the ...

There is a large residual volume (RV) error when assessing percent body fat by means of hydrostatic weighing. It has generally been measured before hydrostatic weighing. However, an individual's maximal exhalations on land and in the water may not be identical. The aims of this study were to compare residual ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate changes in body weight, BMI, body composition, and fat distribution among freshman women during their 1st year of college. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Freshman women during the 2004 to 2005 academic year were recruited to participate. The initial baseline visit occurred ...

OBJECTIVE: Homocysteine is a sex-related risk factor for cardiovascular disease but the reason for dimorphism is unclear. It has been hypothesized that fat-free mass is an independent determinant of the circulating homocysteine and methionine concentrations. METHODS: The relationship of homocysteine to body composition was investigated in 52 healthy middle-aged 40-60 ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the sensitivity of air displacement plethysmography (APD) for evaluation of changes in body composition in normal subjects. DESIGN: Comparison of measurements with and without oil or water loads. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers were analyzed, without and with 1 l and 2 l of oil or ...

Changes in body fatness may impact the accuracy of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures of bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD). The aim of this study was to determine if DXA can accurately assess BMC and BMD with changes in exogenous fat (lard) placed to simulate ...

AIM: To investigate the potential causes of weight gain with insulin therapy and improved diabetic control in type 1 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This was an open-label prospective study of insulin therapy of 6 months duration in an academic medical centre. Twenty-one subjects with type 1 diabetes were enrolled. The goal ...

Body mass is undoubtedly central to the overall adaptive profile of any organism. Despite this, very little is known of what forces drive evolutionary changes in body mass and, consequently, shape patterns of body mass distribution exhibited by animal radiations. The search for factors that may influence evolutionary processes in ...

Plasma metabolites, including triglycerides, beta -hydroxybutyrate, and glycerol, can be used to estimate mass change in birds. Although dietary fatty acids can be ingested and absorbed as phospholipids, they have been largely overlooked as a potential indicator of mass change. The plasma ratio of triglyceride to phospholipid could also provide ...

PURPOSE: To examine whether components of body composition (size, fat mass, and fat-free mass) were related to physical activity. METHODS: A random sample of 60 eligible sixth grade girls at each of 36 schools (six schools per region and six regions in total sample); complete measurements on 1,553 girls. Physical ...

This paper examines the size, strength, and aerobic fitness of players from a professional hockey team. Beginning in 1917, data on body size were obtained from historical records of the Montreal Canadiens. Body composition, strength, and VO2 max were obtained through physiological testing of Canadiens players between 1981 and 2003. ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether objectively measured physical activity and dietary macronutrient intake differentially predict body fat in adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes and control girls. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study comprised 23 girls (12-19 years) with type 1 diabetes and 19 age-matched ...

BACKGROUND: Although obesity confers an increased risk of mortality in the general population, it has been reported to be associated with improved survival in dialysis patients. However, the influence of fat mass change over time on mortality in dialysis patients has not been determined. METHODS: This relationship was examined in ...

Responses to energy restriction tend to vary within the population because of genetic differences. In this study, we have genotyped 6 uncoupling protein 3 (UCP-3) polymorphisms (-55C/T, Int2-143G/C, Tyr99Tyr, Int3-47G/A, Int4-498C/T, and Tyr210Tyr) among 214 overweight Korean female subjects recruited from an obesity clinic. Three major haplotypes, identified with frequencies ...

BACKGROUND: The increasing incidence of obesity and the wider acceptance of laparoscopic surgery, have lead to a 10-fold increase in bariatric operations in the last 10 years. Widely used indices of obesity (weight and body mass index - BMI) cannot adequately distinguish between fat mass (FM), represented by the sum ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a diet rich in protein of animal origin in comparison to one with a protein intake of about 15% of the total daily calories on body composition and arterial function. DESIGN: Randomized prospective study with parallel groups. Body weight (BW), blood pressure (BP), main ...

CONTEXT: There is growing evidence for interactions between the regulation of body fat and the immune system. Studies of knockout mice indicate that IL-1 has an antiobesity effect. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate our hypothesis that common polymorphisms of the IL-1 system, which are associated with ...

Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) were fed restricted iso-caloric amounts of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) or walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) for 8-9 days, four times over the course of a year to investigate effects of season and prey composition on sea lion physiology. At these levels, the sea lions lost ...

BACKGROUND: The prevention and treatment of obesity is a public health challenge. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of dietary composition, insulin sensitivity (S(I)), and energy balance on predicted changes in body composition. DESIGN: In a randomized crossover design study, 39 normal-weight (n = 23), overweight (n = 8), and obese ...

OBJECTIVE: A comparison of the severity and distribution of perturbations in body composition and their relationship to energy metabolism in glucocorticoid excess and GH deficiency (GHD) has not been undertaken before. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Cushing's syndrome (CS) and GHD on whole and ...

Objectives Current research is unclear about the most effective pharmacological agents for managing the loss of weight and fat-free mass common in HIV/AIDS. The aim of this study was to compare nandrolone decanoate with placebo and testosterone. Methods The study was a multicentre randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Three hundred and ...

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery has become the method of choice for weight loss in severely obese patients. While the incidence of obesity and its co-morbidities have been well-documented, less is known about the outcomes of the surgery as it relates to body composition and metabolic changes. METHODS: 19 bariatric surgery patients ...

OBJECTIVE: Outpatient treatment in restricted eating disorder: indirect calorimetry during dynamic monitoring. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study. SUBJECTS: Twenty seven women affected by restricted eating disorder (essentially anorexia nervosa) with a body mass index [weight (kg)/height (m2)] of 17.29+/-2.47 were studied. The sample was compared as itself control during rehabilitative ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the variation in whole-body and segmental bioelectrical impedance measured in the standing position over the course of a day.Subjects:Sixteen healthy men aged 29.6 +/- 3.1 years participated in this study.Measurement:Impedance between the hands (Z H-H), the feet (Z F-F), and the both hands and feet (Z H-F) ...

AIMS: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of insulin sensitivity and serum adiponectin concentration as determinants, in middle-aged men, of the relationship between lower body fat and blood lipids after truncal fat has been accounted for. METHODS: Men (443) aged 39-65 yr, body mass index 18-43 ...

Considering the negative effects of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), the objective of the present study was to evaluate body composition changes using conventional and vector bioimpedance analysis in patients before and after parathyroidectomy (PTX). Twelve adult patients, mean age 43.4 (sd 12.7) years, were ...

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether low-carbohydrate, high-protein, weight-loss diets benefit body mass and composition beyond energy restriction alone. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to use meta-regression to determine the effects of variations in protein and carbohydrate intakes on body mass and composition during energy restriction. DESIGN: English-language studies with a dietary ...

Laron syndrome (LS) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by deletions or mutations in the GH receptor gene leading to an inability of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) generation. Among the major resulting body changes are dwarfism and obesity. The only effective treatment is daily administration of biosynthetic IGF-I. Body ...

PURPOSE: To determine whether the college environment results in changes in body composition (BC), diet (D) and physical activity (PA) in 1st year female students. METHODS: BC by BOD-POD, D by 3- Day food and activity diary (3-DFAD), and (PA) by accelerometer (A) were recorded in 31 1st year college ...

Growth hormone (GH) is an important regulator of body composition, reducing body fat by stimulating fat oxidation and enhancing lean body mass by stimulating protein accretion. The emergence of differences in body composition between the sexes during puberty suggests sex steroids modulate the action of GH. Work from our laboratory ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether plasma aldosterone (PA) levels differed between African American and White prehypertensives and if so, could the difference be explained by ethnicity-related variability in urinary K+ and Na+ excretion, body mass index (BMI), and percent body fat. DESIGN: Ethnic comparison SETTING: The University of Maryland College Park ...