Energy balance
Lifestyle modification, specifically caloric restriction and specific diets (e.g., Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate), reduces body weight and improves insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis, but its efficacy is moderate and less sustainable than GLP-1RA.
Losing just 5% of your body weight through caloric restriction can significantly improve insulin sensitivity and reduce liver fat by up to 40%. While lifestyle changes are the foundation of treatment, they often result in moderate weight loss compared to medications like GLP-1RA. Combining caloric reduction with exercise is effective, but maintaining this long-term is challenging, which is why pharmacological support is often needed for significant, sustained results.
A weight loss of as little as 5% already ameliorates of whole-body and tissue-specific insulin sensitivity, decreases visceral adipose mass by ~10% and liver lipid content by ~40%. ... Lifestyle modification aiming at body weight management remains a cornerstone... The key to success of lifestyle interventions resides in caloric reduction.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple RCTs and meta-analyses cited in the review.
Source
Role of lifestyle and glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists for weight loss in obesity, type 2 diabetes and steatotic liver diseases
Anna Giannakogeorgou et al. · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · 2024
DOI 10.1111/apt.17848
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