In the authors' words
“Severe energy restriction had no greater adverse effect on relative whole-body lean mass or handgrip strength compared with moderate energy restriction and was associated with 2-fold greater weight and fat loss over 12 months.”
What was measured
- Body fat and weight Reported an improvement
- Muscle mass Reported a worsening
- Muscle strength No difference found
- Bone density Reported a worsening
About the study
- Type
- Randomised trial
- Who took part
- Postmenopausal, overweight or obesity
- How many
- 101
- How long
- 52 weeks
- Exercise
- Exercise with diet
- Cited
- 103 times, per Europe PMC
- PubMed ID
- 31664441
How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.
Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.
Similar studies
- A meta-analysis of 20 trials in overweight breast cancer survivors found diet plus exercise programmes reduced weight, BMI and waist size, and improved quality of life.
- A meta-analysis of 13 trials, mostly in postmenopausal women losing weight, found exercise plus calorie restriction preserved hip and femoral neck bone density better than diet alone, but not lumbar spine density.
- A meta-analysis of 11 trials in overweight or obese peri and postmenopausal women found exercise alone reduced body weight less than diet, but adding exercise to diet increased weight and fat loss.
- A meta-analysis of 7 studies found premenopausal and postmenopausal women lost similar amounts of weight, fat and lean mass during diet, with or without exercise, interventions.