Abstract
A comparison of two different 10-week intervention programs, both focused upon weight loss, was made. One of these programs (DSp—Doctor Supervised Program) was supervised by a health professional, and the other was a popular unsupervised OTC program (OTC—-Over-the-counter). Observed intergroup comparative changes included serum cholesterol (DSP mean=-13 mg dl-1OTC mean=-17 mg dl−1), HDL cholesterol (DSP mean=9.7 mg dl−1; OTC mean= - 9.6 mg dl−1), weight loss (DSP mean= - 11 lb; OTC mean= - 13 lb). These differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Two statistically significant differences between the groups were changes in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and body composition (BC). No change in TSH was observed in the DSP group pre- and post-intervention, whereas a significant increase (150%, p=0.04) was observed in the OTC group. in addition, participants in the DSP group lost significantly more fat (mean=10 lb) than the OTC group (mean=I lb). the intergroup difference for this change in body composition was highly significant (p=0.001). These data indicate that a supervised weight-loss program helped to preserve muscle and to promote selective loss of fat in comparison to an unsupervised OTC program. This difference may be due to endocrine-modulated effects associated with differential aspects of nutritional quality between the two programs.
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