Effect of intermittent versus continuous calorie restriction on body weight and cardiometabolic risk markers in subjects with overweight or obesity and mild-to-moderate hypertriglyceridemia: a randomized trial

Background Intermittent calorie restriction (ICR) is a novel method of dietary restriction for body weight control with the potential to improve obesity-related cardiometabolic markers, but the impact of this diet on subjects with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) remains unknown. Methods Eighty-eight subjects with overweight or obesity and mild-to-moderate HTG were randomized to the continuous calorie restriction (CCR) group, or ICR group (a very low-calorie diet during 3 days of the week) for 8 weeks (44 patients in each group). Body composition, plasma lipids, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and liver enzymes were measured at baseline and after 8 weeks. An intention-to-treat analysis was performed. Results The body weight decreased in both groups (4.07 +/- 1.83 kg in the CCR group and 4.57 +/- 2.21 kg in the ICR group) with no significant difference between the groups. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the reduced amount of fat mass, fat-free mass, and waist circumference. Both groups achieved a significant reduction in plasma triglycerides after 8 weeks (by 15.6 and 6.3% in ICR and CCR groups, respectively) with no difference between treatment groups. HOMA-IR improved significantly in ICR compared to the CCR group (P = 0.03). Plasma glucose, insulin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, liver enzyme, and adiponectin were not different between the two groups. Conclusions The results of this short-term study suggest that three-days a week of the ICR is comparable to a CCR diet for the reduction of triglycerides level in patients with HTG and in the short-term it appears to be more effective than continuous dieting in improving insulin resistance. However, longer-term studies are needed to confirm these findings.