Gender Differences in Fat Loss on Calorie-Restricted Diets Disappear with Age: Study

by time news

2023-05-26 02:50:51

Young men lose more fat than women on a calorie-restricted diet – but only up to a certain age. After that, there is no difference between the sexes. Why is that?

Diets affect men and women differently in young adulthood — but these differences disappear with age, according to a recent study Study. The researchers found that men on a calorie-restricted diet experienced greater fat loss and an improvement in weight compared to women blood sugar levels showed. The results suggest that estrogen may play a role in determining the health benefits of dieting. According to experts, this could help identify those who are most likely to benefit from a reduced-calorie diet.

Of Mice and Humans

The research team, led by the University of Edinburgh, investigated the effects of a calorie-restricted diet on the health of mice and humans. The six-week study included 96 mice whose daily calorie consumption was 30 percent below normal and 85 mice that were fed a normal diet. The team found that the reduced-calorie diet reduced blood sugar by 22 percent in young males, but only 16 percent in young females. The effects on body fat were even more striking: males lost almost 70 percent fat mass, while females lost no fat at all. Compared to males, they restricted the breakdown of body fat, used less energy, and had increased fat production after meals. However, when the diet was started at an older age, there was no significant difference in fat loss between the sexes.

A small study of weight loss in humans aged 42 or over obese Men and women confirmed that the same age- and sex-specific differences also occur in humans. Over a four-week period, men under the age of 45 lost more than 16 percent of their body fat, while women of the same age group lost just 8 percent. There was no difference in fat loss between men and women older than 45, with both sexes losing about 10 percent of their body fat.

A first step for individualized nutrition

The human study was not originally designed to examine the influence of age and gender on diet, but the researchers were able to retrospectively analyze the data to investigate this. A larger human study examining the influence of age and gender is needed to confirm these findings, the experts said.

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Director of Studies Dr. William Cawthorn, Associate Professor at the University of Edinburgh’s BHF Center for Cardiovascular Science, says: “Restricted calorie diets have many health benefits and can promote healthy aging. Some previous research suggests that the effectiveness of these diets may differ in men and women, but our study shows for the first time that these gender differences largely disappear when dieting begins at older ages. This could help us design better nutritional strategies to prevent disease and promote healthy aging.”

This article is based on a press release from the University of Edinburgh. We have the study for you here and linked in the text.

Image source: Federico Giampieri, Unsplash

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