Very Low-calorie Diet & Cardiometabolic Health

Effects of Short-term Very Low-calorie Diets on Cardiometabolic Health Markers in Humans

To investigate the effects of a short-term (1-week) nutritional intervention in healthy individuals using very low-calorie (fasting-mimicking) diets with different protein content on markers of cardiometabolic health and autophagy.

The aim of this project is to investigate the metabolic effects of a short-term (1-week) nutritional intervention in healthy humans using very low-calorie (fasting-mimicking) diets with low and high protein content on key cardiometabolic outcomes (with blood glucose as a primary outcome) and autophagy, oxidative stress, inflammation, functional measures of cardiovascular health, body composition, and faecal markers for gut microbiome diversity (secondary outcomes).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
• Participant is willing and able to comply with the requirements of the study protocol
• Aged between 18 and 65 years
• Healthy individual

Exclusion Criteria:

• A BMI <18 or >35 kg/m2
• Regularly skipping breakfast
• On an energy-restricted diet
• Taking medication to control appetite
• Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) score >20 as self-reported marker of symptoms and concerns characteristic of eating disorders
• Active metabolic (e.g. diabetes), endocrine (e.g. hyperthyroidism) or cardiovascular (e.g. heart or blood) abnormalities including hypertension or heart failure
• Having taken part in a research study in the last 3 months involving invasive procedures or an inconvenience allowance