Mayo Clinic researchers have piloted a study looking into the effectiveness of different weight loss strategies: a standard lifestyle intervention versus individualized therapy. The study comprised 165 participants.
The standard lifestyle intervention included a restricted diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy, while the individualized approach was phenotype-based, meaning interventions were chosen depending on the individual’s predominant underlying cause of obesity.
Essentially, a phenotype-based diet uses a person’s genetic and phenotypic characteristics to customize an eating plan to optimize health and well-being.
Comparing the Strategies
The researchers sought to determine whether lifestyle interventions tailored to obesity phenotypes would outperform standard lifestyle interventions in promoting weight loss, reducing cardiometabolic risk factors, and influencing physical variables that contribute to obesity.
After 12 weeks, the findings revealed that adults with obesity who used phenotype-tailored lifestyle interventions experienced more weight loss than those who used standard lifestyle interventions.
The results showed that those who used phenotype-tailored interventions had more significant weight loss, reduced waist circumference, reduced triglycerides, decreased daily caloric intake, and experienced less anxiety.
They also showed a significant increase in lean mass percentage and a lesser decrease in calories burned during resting conditions.
Dr. Andre Acosta, a Mayo Clinic obesity researcher and the last author of the study, emphasized that the findings underline the importance of identifying the root cause of obesity, considering it is a complex disease influenced by numerous factors.
Phenotype-tailored Interventions
Phenotype-based obesity interventions focus on the cause of obesity and its behavioral components. The three main areas include homeostatic eating, hedonic eating behavior, and abnormal energy expenditure.
Four actionable phenotypes, derived from these areas, include abnormal fullness, abnormal duration of fullness, emotional eating behavior, and abnormal resting energy expenditure.
Those who used phenotype-tailored lifestyle interventions showed significant improvement in some targeted areas, such as abnormal fullness and emotional eating.
Future Research
Dr. Acosta emphasized that more research is needed to assess the long-term effect of a phenotype-based approach.
He also pointed out that the effects of therapy on the two approaches must be examined independently.
He further stated that future studies may need to investigate other physical and metabolic variables to understand people with no identified phenotype.
“More research will enhance the tailored approach proposed from the data,” says Dr. Acosta.
“We will continue to work on individualized obesity therapy directed at specific traits to identify the right therapy for the right patient.”
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The study was published in eClinicalMedicine.
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