Specialists from the research center in Nutrition of the University of Navarra, IdiSNA and the Center of programs of study, research and Sports Medicine of the Government of Navarra are looking for female volunteers aged 55 to 70 years with overweight or obesity who want to participate in a new study.

This is a nutritional intervention that aims to confirm whether the combination of a per diem expenses supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids and internship of strength exercise reduces body fat and improves health in postmenopausal women.

As explained by her manager, Professor and Chair of Physiology at the University of Navarra María Jesús Moreno, "aging is accompanied by a greater accumulation of visceral fat and the development of metabolic complications. And both aging and obesity have been identified as pathologies of inflammatory origin. This inflammation, common to both processes, is also a risk factor in most age-related diseases. Hence the importance of understanding the mechanisms involved in these processes at the molecular level".

For this purpose, the volunteers -who must not have any serious associated pathology- will be divided into four groups. For 16 weeks they will attend the Metabolic Unit of the School Pharmacy and Nutrition, where they will be offered a nutritionalcommittee to follow a healthy per diem expenses (from agreement with the patron saint of per diem expenses Mediterranean) and specialists in Dietetics and Nutrition will monitor their weight loss and fat tissue, muscle mass gain, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory markers in adipose tissue, etc.

Some groups will also carry out a controlled exercise program. This training will consist of two weekly sessions of 60 to 90 minutes in the Center of programs of study, research and Sports Medicine of the Government of Navarra, where they will be supervised by Dr. Javier Ibáñez.

Obesity has a 5 billion euro annual cost overrun

The high prevalence of obesity - the ENRICA study estimated that 39% of Spaniards are overweight and 23% suffer from obesity - has a cost of 5,000 million euros a year, which represents approximately 7% of healthcare costs. "If we add to this the fact that in Spain, according to the INE, within 10 years there will be almost 10 million people over 54 years of age -and we have said that obesity and aging are inflammatory pathologies-, the results of this project can shed light on the pathophysiological mechanisms of these two phenomena, which are of concern in the field of public health", emphasize the researchers responsible for the project, María Jesús Moreno and Silvia Lorente.

Those interested in obtaining more information about the project or in participating as volunteers can do so by e-mail at obelex@unav.es and by telephone at 616244655 and 948 42 57 44. The project Obelex is supported by the Ministry of Economics, Industry and Competitiveness as a strategic study to understand the mechanisms underlying inflammation associated with obesity and aging. Also, some of its researchers are part of the research center Biomedical network of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn).