Effect of Fasting Therapy and Low-Calorie Diet on Anthropometric and Serum Lipids in Obese Females

Background: Preclinical and clinical studies have shown the importance of calorie restriction diet in weight reduction and cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, our objective is to compare the naturopathic-based short-term fasting therapy with low-calorie diet (LCD) on anthropometric and lipid profile among obese and overweight persons. A total number of subjects (n = 100) with body mass index (BMI) ≥25 were randomly allocated into either fasting therapy intervention (n = 48) or a LCD (n = 52). Materials and Methods: Participants underwent very LCD (288–904 kcal) in fasting therapy and a LCD (1234 kcal) in the other group respectively for 10 days. Individuals in both the groups were assessed with anthropometric parameters such as BMI, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference and waist-hip ratio, serum lipid profile, and serum leptin levels at the baseline and after 10 days. Results: The anthropometric measurements were decreased significantly in the fasting group when compared with the LCD group (P < 0.05). The decrease in mean serum total cholesterol (TC) (−27.43%), triglycerides (TGs) (−13.05%), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (−20.9%) in the treated group were statistically significant (P < 0.001), whereas serum high density lipoprotein (2.32%) was increased but insignificantly (P > 0.001) when compared with the nontreated group. Conclusions: Our findings support that short-term fasting therapy is beneficial in anthropometric measures and reducing leptin level among obese or overweight person compared to LCD. However, long-term adherence of weight loss with these interventions should be tested in future studies with bigger sample size.