A group of researchers from the research center in Nutrition of the University of Navarra, within the network Aditech, is looking for 260 new volunteers with overweight or obesity to participate in a new dietary study aimed at weight loss.

The participants of essay will undergo two types of hypocaloric diets (diets with a lower caloric load than the average expense per person per day) for four months: one of them moderately high in protein and the other rich in fiber and leave in fat. Both diets will reduce the kilocalories consumed daily by 30%.

The goal, according to the Center's scientific director , Full Professor of Nutrition Alfredo Martínez, "is that both groups lose between half a kilo and one kilo per week or, in other words, that at the end of the study they have lost between 8 and 16 kilos". In principle, the only requirement is that participants - over 18 years of age - must be overweight or obese. This means that their body mass index (the result of dividing weight by height in meters squared) must be between 25 and 40 kg/m² (normal weight covers the ratio of 18.5 to 25 and above 40 is considered morbid obesity).

After contacting the research team at contact - via telephone 616 244 655 or email voluntariosnutricion@unav.es - the volunteers will go to the first recruitment visit , where they will visit enquiry with a doctor and a dietician. After the medical evaluation and if it is confirmed that they have not followed any other per diem expenses in the last three months, the initial visit will take place, after which they will receive a personalized per diem expenses .

Education nutritional to learn how to eat healthy

"Our aim," stresses study coordinator Marta Cuervo, "is not only to achieve weight loss, but also to educate volunteers nutritionally, so that they learn to eat better and can maintain a healthy weight over time".

Likewise, the research aims to decipher the role of some genetic variants in the propensity to put on weight. "A personalized, complete study with a follow-up like the one we carry out here has a very high cost if you go to a professional, which is why many people may be interested in volunteering. However, and more than ever in these times of new resolutions for the start of the year, it should be clear that all per diem expenses should be done under the supervision of a professional," says the professor.

In addition to this study, the research center in Nutrition of the University of Navarra carries out different projects with volunteers, such as a essay to reduce hypercholesterolemia in people with high cholesterol.