Hypoxia, a concentration leave of oxygen in the blood, could treat obesity. This is one of the conclusions of a study carried out by a team of researchers from research center in Nutrition at the University of Navarra. This essay, led by the Full Professor of Nutrition Alfredo Martinez, is part of the project EXPLORA, a national plan funded by the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness dedicated to the search for novel treatments against obesity and its associated diseases.

The main conclusions of the study are: Hypoxia influences the loss of body fat associated with weight loss and the regulation of various genes related to inflammation, angiogenesis or glucose metabolism; and, in turn, provides specific metabolic benefits such as improved physical capacity and maintenance of muscle mass. Therefore, the joint prescription of a hypocaloric dietary treatment with exercise in intermittent hypoxia, such as weight lifting, step, cycling or running on treadmill, is a promising strategy against obesity providing additional benefits and faster results.

Losing weight, maintaining muscle and improving physical capacity

According to Professor Martínez, "a weight loss per diem expenses accompanied by physical exercise under hypoxia has additional benefits, since, in addition to losing fat, it helps to avoid the muscle loss characteristic of weight loss diets and improves the physical capacity of the patient. It also has benefits on inflammatory markers typical of obese people".

Pedro González-Muniesa, another researcher of project, extends the possible benefits of this treatment to non-obese people: "In a gradual way and following the instructions of an expert, it could be done by anyone, since it seems that those who perform physical activity in hypoxia need to do fewer hours of exercise to achieve similar results to those who do not exercise in this way".