Study Review: Phenotype tailored Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Adults with Obesity
A recent study conducted in 2023 looked at the effect of tailoring lifestyle interventions to treat obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. This was a proof of concept study to establish if specific interventions for four different phenotypes helped increase weight loss and improve overall health factors. More studies need to be completed, but the results so far are reassuring and exciting!
The study determined four main phenotypes to group participants into.
Abnormal Satiation: meaning that people did not feel full after eating a meal. Intervention: target the hunger center of the brain to "switch off" for longer. They had set meal times and encouraged foods to cue fullness and slow gastric emptying such as high fiber and protein.
Abnormal Postprandial Satiety: meaning accelerated gastric emptying that leads to feeling hungry quickly after a meal, or not staying full long enough. Intervention: eat the protein first during a meal to "preload" which triggers the earlier release of gastrointestinal hormones to slow down gastric emptying.
Abnormal Emotional Eating: meaning negative moods, high anxiety, and reward-seeking behaviors affecting intake of nutrition. Anxiety tends to correlate with negative food perceptions and emotional eating. Intervention: behavioral intervention focus on emotional regulation, self-efficacy, goal-setting, self-monitoring, and stimulus control using a mindfulness motivation approach.
Abnormal Resting Energy Expenditure: meaning low muscle mass and low REE are causing fewer calories to be burned while at rest. Body composition is important in REE, more muscle mass means a higher REE, less muscle and more fat mass means a lower REE resulting in higher weight.
Intervention: structured exercise plan to increase lean muscle mass, followed by post-workout protein intake to support muscle growth.
This study has shown proof that there is no one size fits all program for weight loss. In order to have the most successful results each person has to find their own underlying phenotype and nutrition experts can help assist in the process and individualize each nutrition plan.
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Written by Meghan Hawley, RD
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