Body weight of individuals with obesity decreases after a 6-month high pasta or low pasta Mediterranean diet weight-loss intervention.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The effect of pasta consumption within a low-energy Mediterranean diet on body weight regulation has been scarcely explored. This paper investigates the effect of two Mediterranean diets, which differed for lower or higher pasta intake, on body weight change in individuals with obesity. METHODS & RESULTS: Forty-nine volunteers finished a quasi-experimental 6-month two-parallel group dietary intervention. Participants were assigned to a low-energy high pasta (HP) or to a low-energy low Pasta (LP) group on the basis of their pasta intake (HP ≥ 5 or LP ≤ 3 times/week). Anthropometrics, blood pressure and heart rate were measured every month. Weight maintenance was checked at month 12. Body composition (bioelectrical impedance analysis, BIA), food intake (24-h recall plus a 7-day carbohydrate record) and the perceived quality of life (36-item short-form health survey, SF-36) were assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Blood samples were collected at baseline and month 6 to assess glucose and lipid metabolism. After 6-month intervention, body weight reduction was -10 ± 8% and -7 ± 4% in HP and LP diet, respectively, and it remained similar at month 12. Both dietary interventions improved anthropometric parameters, body composition, glucose and lipid metabolism, but no significant differences were observed between treatment groups. No differences were observed for blood pressure and heart rate between treatments and among times. HP diet significantly improved perception of quality of life for the physical component. CONCLUSIONS: Independent of pasta consumption frequency, low-energy Mediterranean diets were successful in improving anthropometrics, physiological parameters and dietary habits after a 6-month weight-loss intervention. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03341650.

Cholesterol Lowering Therapy: Treat to Target or Reduce the Global Risk? The Unresolved Problem of Residual Risk.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) is the first cause of death in Western Countries. Several risk factors contribute to generate atherosclerosis and the preventive therapeutic approaches, in particular statin therapy, reduce the mortality. However, the residual risk in statin treated patients remains significant, despite reaching the low density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C) goals. METHODS: we reviewed the literature published in PUB-MED to discuss the role of residual dyslipidemia in particular high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TGs) and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], genetic factors, suboptimal implementation of lifestyle therapy, mood disorders associated to low compliance to application of evidence-based therapies or related to ASCVD. RESULTS: we summarized the current knowledge on the topic, evidencing its contradictory aspects. CONCLUSION: HDL-C is an important biomarker for predicting cardiovascular risk, but the classical HDL hypothesis is no longer correct and it is now being replaced by the HDL function hypothesis, thought more studies are needed to validate it. The connection between cardiovascular risk and levels of TGs is not so definite. APOE genotype and Lp(a) levels are two genetics factors associated to CV risk. Healthy lifestyle with particular dietetic factors, connected to psychological aspects, are very important for the optimal control of the global risk.