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. 2014 Oct;63(10):1257-64.
doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2014.07.007. Epub 2014 Jul 18.

Effects of a eucaloric reduced-carbohydrate diet on body composition and fat distribution in women with PCOS

Amy M Goss  1 , Paula C Chandler-Laney  2 , Fernando Ovalle  3 , Laura Lee Goree  2 , Ricardo Azziz  4 , Renee A Desmond  5 , G Wright Bates  6 , Barbara A Gower  2
Affiliations

Effects of a eucaloric reduced-carbohydrate diet on body composition and fat distribution in women with PCOS

Amy M Goss et al. Metabolism. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To determine if consumption of a reduced-carbohydrate (CHO) diet would result in preferential loss of adipose tissue under eucaloric conditions, and whether changes in adiposity were associated with changes in postprandial insulin concentration.

Methods: In a crossover-diet intervention, 30 women with PCOS consumed a reduced-CHO diet (41:19:40% energy from CHO:protein:fat) for 8 weeks and a standard diet (55:18:27) for 8 weeks. Body composition by DXA and fat distribution by CT were assessed at baseline and following each diet phase. Insulin AUC was obtained from a solid meal test (SMT) during each diet phase.

Results: Participants lost 3.7% and 2.2% total fat following the reduced-CHO diet and STD diet, resp. (p<0.05 for difference between diets). The reduced-CHO diet induced a decrease in subcutaneous-abdominal, intra-abdominal, and thigh-intermuscular adipose tissue (-7.1%, -4.6%, and -11.5%, resp.), and the STD diet induced a decrease in total lean mass. Loss of fat mass following the reduced CHO diet arm was associated with lower insulin AUC (p<0.05) during the SMT.

Conclusions: In women with PCOS, consumption of a diet lower in CHO resulted in preferential loss of fat mass from metabolically harmful adipose depots, whereas a diet high in CHO appeared to promote repartitioning of lean mass to fat mass.

Keywords: Intra-abdominal adipose tissue; Macronutrient composition; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean (±SE) difference in 8-wk total fat mass, total lean mass, % fat, intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT), subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT), and thigh intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) by diet. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 for paired t-test. Reduced CHO, reduced carbohydrate; STD. standard.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Change in fat mass, adjusted for baseline total fat (kg) and change in total lean (kg) by ANCOVA, was significantly greater following the reduced carbohydrate (CHO) diet arm compared to the standard (STD) diet arm; *p<0.05 for diet effect (a.). Change in fat mass following the reduced CHO diet arm was associated with insulin area-under-the-curve (AUC) derived from the reduced CHO solid meal test (model adjusted for baseline total fat mass; standardized β=0.50, p<0.05) (b)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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