Research

Energy balance

High-energy nutritional supplements combined with exercise training improve functional capacity (6MWT) and fat-free mass index in malnourished COPD patients, but do not consistently improve peak VO2.

If you have COPD and are losing weight or muscle, ask your doctor about high-energy nutritional supplements alongside your exercise program. They may help you walk further and maintain muscle mass, even if they don't always improve your maximum oxygen uptake. Focus on supplements if you are underweight or have lost muscle.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
After 4 months, the intervention group demonstrated a significant gain in FFMI, as well as an increase in functional capacity measured by 6MWT distance and peak watts achieved on cycle ergometer over the usual care group [50]. ... Nonetheless, a greater caloric intake through higher content in fats has been proposed as a more beneficial approach for some patients with COPD... Nonetheless, the NUTRAIN trial... showed similar results with no improvements in peak VO2 [41].
Hayley Billingsley et al. · Nutrients · 2019

Why this rating

Mixed results across multiple trials; some show functional improvement, others show no VO2 improvement.

Source

Lifestyle Interventions with a Focus on Nutritional Strategies to Increase Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Heart Failure, Obesity, Sarcopenia, and Frailty

Hayley Billingsley et al. · Nutrients · 2019

DOI 10.3390/nu11122849

narrative_reviewCited 59×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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