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. 2021 Apr 10;13(4):1250.
doi: 10.3390/nu13041250.

The Ability of Exercise to Mitigate Caloric Restriction-Induced Bone Loss in Older Adults: A Structured Review of RCTs and Narrative Review of Exercise-Induced Changes in Bone Biomarkers

Sarah J Wherry  1   2 , Ryan M Miller  3 , Sarah H Jeong  4 , Kristen M Beavers  5
Affiliations

The Ability of Exercise to Mitigate Caloric Restriction-Induced Bone Loss in Older Adults: A Structured Review of RCTs and Narrative Review of Exercise-Induced Changes in Bone Biomarkers

Sarah J Wherry et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Despite the adverse metabolic and functional consequences of obesity, caloric restriction- (CR) induced weight loss is often contra-indicated in older adults with obesity due to the accompanying loss of areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and subsequent increased risk of fracture. Several studies show a positive effect of exercise on aBMD among weight-stable older adults; however, data on the ability of exercise to mitigate bone loss secondary to CR are surprisingly equivocal. The purpose of this review is to provide a focused update of the randomized controlled trial literature assessing the efficacy of exercise as a countermeasure to CR-induced bone loss among older adults. Secondarily, we present data demonstrating the occurrence of exercise-induced changes in bone biomarkers, offering insight into why exercise is not more effective than observed in mitigating CR-induced bone loss.

Keywords: bone loss; caloric restriction; exercise; mechanisms; review; weight loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of included and excluded studies. Initial search conducted 20 December 2020; last search conducted 12 February 2021. Abbreviations: CR—caloric restriction; Ex—exercise.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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