Abstract
Although long-term energy restriction has been widely investigated and has consistently induced improvements in health and cognitive and motor functions, the responses to short-duration calorie restriction are not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 2-day very low-calorie diet on evoked stress, mood, and cognitive and motor functions in obese women. Nine obese women (body fatness > 32%) aged 22–31 years were tested under two randomly allocated conditions: 2-day very low-calorie diet (511 kcal) and 2-day usual diet. The perceived stressfulness of the diet, cardiovascular autonomic response, and cognitive and motor performances were evaluated before and after each diet. The subjective stress rating of the calorie-restricted diet was 41.5 ± 23.3. Calorie restriction had no detectable effects on the heart rate variability indices, mood, grip strength, or psychomotor functions. By contrast, calorie restriction increased (p < 0.05) spatial processing and visuospatial working memory accuracy, and decreased (p < 0.05) accuracy of cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that although a 2-day calorie restriction evoked moderate stress in obese women, cardiovascular autonomic function was not affected. Calorie restriction had complex effects on cognition: it declined cognitive flexibility, and improved spatial processing and visuospatial working memory, but did not affect mood or motor behavior.
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We thank the volunteers for participating in the study and joint-stock company Kauno Grūdai for supply of the food.
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All procedures performed in the current study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Kaunas Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Solianik, R., Sujeta, A. & Čekanauskaitė, A. Effects of 2-day calorie restriction on cardiovascular autonomic response, mood, and cognitive and motor functions in obese young adult women. Exp Brain Res 236, 2299–2308 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5305-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5305-4