A Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet during Resistance Training Promotes More Favorable Changes in Body Composition and Markers of Health in Obese Women with and without Insulin Resistance

AbstractObjective: To determine whether sedentary obese women with elevated levels of homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance (ie, > 3.5) experience greater benefits from an exercise + higher-carbohydrate (HC) or carbohydrate-restricted weight loss program than women with lower HOMA levels. Methods: 221 women (age, 46.5 ± 12 years; body weight, 90.3 ± 16 kg; body mass index, 33.8 ± 5 kg/m2) participated in a 10-week supervised exercise and weight loss program. The fitness program involved 30 minutes of circuit-style resistance training 3 days per week. Subjects were prescribed low-fat (30%) isoenergetic diets that consisted of 1200 kcals per day for 1 week (phase 1) and 1600 kcals per day for 9 weeks (phase 2) with HC or higher protein (HP). Fasting blood samples, body composition, anthropometry, resting energy expenditure, and fitness measurements were obtained at 0 and 10 weeks. Subjects were retrospectively stratified into lower (LH) or higher (HH) than 3.5 HOMA groups. Data were analyze...