Effect of adding exercise to a diet containing glucomannan

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of adding a total-body exercise program to an 8-week diet supplemented with glucomannan on weight loss, body composition, blood parameters, and physical performance in overweight men and women. Sedentary men and women who were overweight (body mass index > 25 kg m(-2)) (men: 18-57 years, 27.0 +/- 11.2 years, 177.5 +/- 7.6 cm, 102.4 +/- 14.9 kg; women: 18-52 years, 33.4 +/- 12.1 years, 160.6 +/- 4.6 cm, 79.9 +/- 9.3 kg) completed an 8-week diet with 3000 mg glucomannan combined with either no exercise (No-Ex) (10 men, 10 women) or a resistance and endurance exercise training program (Ex) (12 men, 10 women). The diet emphasized healthy food choices and portion size control. The exercise training consisted of 3 weekly sessions of approximately I hour of a nonlinear periodized total-body resistance exercise program followed by 30 minutes of endurance exercise. After the intervention, there were reductions (P < .05) in body mass (men, -2.7 +/- 1.4 and -3.0 +/- 4.0 kg; women, -2.2 +/- 1.5 and -33 +/- 1.5 kg; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), fat mass (men, -2.3 +/- 1.6 and -3.9 +/- 2.5 kg; women, -2.6 +/- 1.4 and -3.6 +/- 1.1 kg; No-Ex and Ex, respectively), total cholesterol (TC) (men, -17.9 +/- 21.5 and -18.8 +/- 19.4 mg dL(-1); women, -9.3 +/- 20.0 and -10.1 +/- 19.5 mg dL(-1); No-Ex and Ex, respectively), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Exercise significantly improved high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (No-Ex, -2.0 +/- 4.7 and -2.3 +/- 4.5 mg dL(-1) vs Ex, 4.4 +/- 10.8 and 1.6 +/- 3.6 mg dL(-1); men and women, respectively), TC/HDL-C ratio, squat and bench press 1-repetition maximum, and distance covered during a shuttle-run test. In addition, exercise appeared to augment the reduction in fat mass (by 63% and 50%; men and women, respectively) and waist circumference, but did not affect total weight loss. Addition of a resistance and endurance exercise training program to a glucomannan diet regimen significantly improved measures of body composition, HDL-C, and TC/HDL-C ratio. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.