A multicomponent nutrient bar promotes weight loss and improves dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in the overweight/obese: chronic inflammation blunts these improvements

This study determined if twice-daily consumption of a nutrient-dense bar intended to fill gaps in Western diets, without other dietary/lifestyle requirements, favorably shifted metabolic/anthropometric indicators of dysregulation in a healthy direction. Three 8-wk clinical trials in 43 healthy lean and overweight/obese (OW/OB) adults, who served as their own controls, were pooled for analysis. In less inflamed OW/OB [high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) <1.5], statistically significant decreases occurred in weight (−1.1 ± 0.5 kg), waist circumference (−3.1 ± 1.4 cm), diastolic blood pressure (−4.1 ± 1.6 mmHg), heart rate [HR; −4.0 ± 1.7 beats per minute (bpm)], triglycerides (−72 ± 38.2 mg/dl), insulin resistance (homeostatic model of insulin resistance) (−0.72 ± 0.3), and insulin (−2.8 ± 1.3 mU/L); an increase in HDL-2b (+303 ± 116 nM) and realignment of LDL lipid subfractions toward a less atherogenic profile [decreased small LDL IIIb (−44 ± 23.5 nM), LDL IIIa (−99 ± 43.7 nM), and increased large...