The purpose of this study was to describe changes in anthropometric measurements, body composition, blood pressure,
lipid profile, and
testosterone following a low-energy-density dietary intervention plus regimented supplementation program.
METHODS: The study design was a pre-post intervention design without a control group. Normal participants were recruited from the faculty, staff, students, and community members from a chiropractic college to participate in a 21-day weight loss program. All participants (n = 49; 36 women, 13 men; 31 ± 10.3 years of age) received freshly prepared mostly vegan meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) that included 1200 to 1400 daily calories (5020.8 to 5857.6 J) for the women and 1600 to 1800 (6694.4 to 7531.2 J) daily calories for the men. Nutritional supplements containing
enzymes that were intended to facilitate digestion, reduce
cholesterol levels, increase metabolic rate, and mediate inflammatory processes were consumed 30 minutes before each meal. The regimented supplementation program included once-daily supplementation with a green drink that contained alfalfa, wheatgrass, apple cider
vinegar, and
fulvic acid throughout the study period. A cleanse supplementation containing
magnesium, chia, flaxseed, lemon, camu camu, cat's claw,
bentonite clay, tumeric, pau d'arco, chanca
piedra, stevia,
zeolite clay, slippery elm, garlic, ginger, peppermint, aloe, citrus
bioflavonoids, and
fulvic acid was added before each meal during week 2. During week 3, the cleanse supplementation was replaced with probiotic and
prebiotic supplementation.
RESULTS: Multiple paired t tests detected clinically meaningful reductions in weight (- 8.7 ± 5.54 lb) (- 3.9 ± 2.5 kg), total
cholesterol (- 30.0 ± 29.77 mg/dL), and
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (- 21.0 ± 25.20 mg/dL) (P < .05). There was a pre-post intervention increase in
testosterone for men (111.0 ± 121.13 ng/dL, P < .05).
CONCLUSIONS: