Research
Macro partitioning
Dietary protein intake and resistance exercise can attenuate fat-free mass and skeletal muscle loss during caloric restriction, but may not completely abrogate it.
To minimize muscle loss while dieting, aim for higher protein intake (potentially 2-3x the standard recommendation) and incorporate resistance training. Note that even with these efforts, some muscle loss is likely unavoidable during significant weight reduction.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Dose- dependent FFM retention can be achieved through increases in dietary protein intake during weight loss interventions. However, FFM losses are not completely abrogated [55], and protein intakes as high as threefold the recommended daily allowance may be required to attenuate endogenous protein breakdown that occurs during clinical weight loss trials [56]. Addition of aerobic and resistance exercise attenuates losses of FFM [44] and may even preserve age- related SMM loss from caloric restriction [57].
Why this rating
Supported by multiple citations of RCTs and meta-analyses within the review.
Source
Understanding Impact of Anti‐Obesity Medications on Skeletal Muscle Mass Change Is Confounded by Measurement Methods
Arden McMath et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2025
DOI 10.1111/obr.70041
narrative_reviewCited 2×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Current anti-obesity medication (AOM) studies frequently misrepresent skeletal muscle mass (SMM) loss by using DXA or BIA to estimate fat-free mass (FFM) or lean mass, which includes bone and non-skeletal tissues, thereby confounding the assessment of clinically significant muscle loss.Good
- Skeletal muscle loss during pharmacologically induced weight loss is clinically significant because excessive SMM loss reduces resting energy expenditure (REE), making weight maintenance more difficult.Good
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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