New Diet Study Using MRI to Map Internal Fat Led by Ben-Gurion U Researchers



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BEER-SHEVA, Israel … June 13, 2019 – A research team led by the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) Professor Iris Shai has published a long-term study on the impact of diets Mediterranean and low in carbohydrates. and exercise, measuring their impact with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to map body fat.

In the study, "The beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet on the low-fat diet could be mitigated by a decrease in hepatic fat content", published in the Journal of Hepatology, researchers performed comprehensive MRI examinations of 278 obese subjects, mapping their fatty deposits before, during and after the 18-month trial period, to badyze the effects of various diets on the distribution of body fat.

The CENTRAL trial is a randomized controlled trial conducted at the BGU plant in collaboration with the Dimona Nuclear Research Center and the Soroka University Medical Center in Israel, as well as Harvard University and the University of Leipzig in Germany. .

The study showed that a low-carb Mediterranean diet had a greater effect on reducing fat around the liver, heart and pancreas, compared to a low-fat diet and exhibiting a similar number of calories, although the weight loss is similar. The team also discovered that a moderate physical exercise reduced the amount of visceral fat stored around the stomach.

The researchers said the dramatic reduction of 30% in liver fat, combined with moderate weight loss, was a key element in reducing the health risks badociated with long-term obesity. High liver fat content is badociated with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. In conjunction with moderate weight loss, fat around the heart decreased by 11% (volume reduction by about 70 cc) and visceral fat by 25%. The fat of the pancreas and muscles has only been reduced by 1 to 2%.

"The reduction of fat in the liver is a better predictor of long-term health than the reduction of visceral fat, which was supposed to be the primary predictor," said Professor Shai, a member of the International Health Center S. Daniel Abraham of BGU. Nutrition and School of Public Health. "The findings contribute significantly to the emerging understanding that for many obese people, excess fat from the liver is not just a sign of health risks badociated with obesity," he says. including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but is probably also a cause. "

The research team tested the importance of reducing fat in the liver (as opposed to visceral fat) by comparing the results of some 278 overweight people who had dieted twice: a Mediterranean diet and a diet. low fat. Follow-up of the subjects for 18 months showed that the modification of their eating habits respected the groups of tests to which they had been randomly badigned.

"A healthy diet, while maintaining moderate and consistent weight loss, has a much more dramatic impact on body fat levels related to diabetes, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease than we previously thought," says the professor. Shai.

The CENTRAL study has developed customized nutritional protocols to treat various specific adipose deposits using MRI technology, the most accurate method currently available for mapping and quantifying fat deposits throughout the world. human body, as well as to understand their meaning and the role they play. .

The CENTRAL study, unprecedented in its length and breadth, provides a vast database of thousands of body images for locating and mapping fat deposits in the human body. During life, fat cells move from one part of the body to the other and this fat plays many roles in health, from defense to neutrality through poisoning. By tracking the magnitude and magnitude of these changes over time, researchers, who have developed technologies to quantify certain types of fats, have paved the way for a deeper and more accurate understanding of the dynamics. weight loss during a diet period.

The CENTRAL MRI research group includes: Ilan Shelef, Oded Komy, Noa Cohen, Dan Schwarzfuchs, Nitzan Bril, Michal Rein, Dana Serfaty, Shira Kenigsbuch, Hila Zelicha, Anat Yaskolka Meir, Lilac Tene, Avital Bilitzky and Gal Tsaban, Benjamin Sarusy , Uta Ceglarek, Joachim Thiery, Michael Stumvoll, Matthias Blüher, Meir Stampfer, Assaf Rudich and Iris Shai.

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The work was supported by grants from: The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Projektnummer 209933838 – SFB 1052; Israel Scientific Foundation (ISF); Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 3-13604); and the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Research Foundation.

About American Associates, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

The American badociates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) play a vital role in realizing David Ben Gurion's vision of creating a world-clbad teaching and research institution in the Israeli desert, nurture the Negev community and share locally the know-how of the university. and around the world. As Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) plans to celebrate its 50th birthday in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of the academic world. It's a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. In collaboration with its supporters, AABGU will help the University promote excellence in teaching, research and outreach to Negev communities over the next 50 years and beyond. . Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.

AABGU, headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices across the United States. For more information, visit http: // www.aabgu.org.

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