The Effect of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation and Exercise on Body Composition During Energy Restriction

January 18, 2016 updated by: Peter Lemon, University of Western Ontario, Canada
This double blind placebo study will take place over an 8 week treatment period of diet and exercise. All participants (n=16), in two groups, will be placed on the same hypocaloric diet and exercise program. Participants will be matched into pairs based on body fat % and then assigned into a test group & a placebo group. The placebo will be in the form of a powdered isoenergetic beverage with carbohydrate similar in taste & appearance to the powder BCAA supplement that the test group will receive. The test group will be put on 0.342g/kg of BCAA per day, partially accounted for through their diet with the rest provided by a BCAA supplement. At baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks habitual 3 day food logs, waist to hip ratio and BodPod measures of body fat & lean mass (both percentage & absolute values) will be taken for all participants.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This double blind placebo study will take place over an 8 week treatment period of diet and exercise. All participants (n=16) will be placed on the same hypocaloric diet and exercise program. Both groups will exercise at the same time. Baseline habitual 3 day food logs, waist to hip ratio and BodPod measures of body fat & lean mass (both percentage & absolute values) will be taken for all participants. Each will be provided with macronutrient guidelines to follow (40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat) & placed on a daily energy deficit of 500 calories for the 8 week study period. Participants in both treatment and control groups will be asked to record their dietary intake using the MyFitnessPal smartphone application or website in order to insure compliance to the prescribed diet. MyFitnessPal is a fast and easy to use calorie counter for Windows or phones. Further, it has the largest food database of any calorie counter apps (over 3,000,000 foods). Each individual will provide the investigators with a weekly screen shot of their mean data. Exercise will take place in a class based, circuit training setting run by a certified personal trainer (Alicia MacDougall). Exercise safety will be assessed by a Physical Readiness Questionnaire (the Par- Q and You - see appendix). Further, it is important to note that these women are overweight, not obese, and that research evidence indicates clearly that inactivity is far more hazardous to one's health than regular exercise (American College of Sports Medicine). Attendance will be recorded to document adherence. This style of training was chosen in order to combine both strength and endurance based training in an attempt to generate fat loss while keeping the workouts controlled by study investigators. Participants will be matched into pairs based on body fat % and then assigned into a test group & a placebo group. This ensures the groups will have similar mean and SD for fat mass at baseline. The placebo group will follow the diet and exercise regime described above plus, be given an isoenergetic placebo to take daily. The placebo will be in the form of a powdered isoenergetic beverage with carbohydrate instead of amino acids, similar in taste & appearance to the powder BCAA supplement that the test group will receive in order to keep the participants blind to their treatment. Specifically, the test group 0.342g/kg of BCAA per day, partially accounted for through their diet with the rest provided by a BCAA supplement (NOW BCAA Powder). The supplement will provide a 2:1:1 ratio of leucine, isoleucine, & valine respectively. At 4 and 8 week of treatment, all participants will be remeasured for waist to hip ratio and BodPod measures of body fat & lean mass. These values can then be compared to the baseline values for each of the study groups in order to determine if the increased BCAA intake proved to be effective. The beverage powder (both treatment & placebo) will be distributed in zip lock plastic bags to the participants by a third party (a graduate student) not involved in the study thereby keeping the investigators blind.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Peter Lemon, PhD, FACSM
  • Phone Number: 88139 19-661-2111
  • Email: plemon@uwo.ca

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7
        • Recruiting
        • Exercise Nutrition Research Laboratory, Western University
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Peter Lemon, PhD
        • Contact:
          • Peter Lemon, PhD
          • Phone Number: 88139 519 661 2111
          • Email: plemon@uwo.ca

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 25 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy, sedentary, overweight (BMI 25-29.9) females, between the ages of 18 - 25 years. Men will need to be measured in a separate study as there are likely gender differences and as this is an undergraduate student project there is insufficient time to assess both.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Women who are; unhealthy, currently physically active, taking medications, have health conditions contraindicated participation in exercise, allergic to milk, pregnant, or breastfeeding will be excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Branched-Chain Amino Acid group
The branched-chain amino acid group will be on a hypocaloric diet, exercise and receive 0.342g/kg of BCAA per day, partially accounted for through their diet with the rest provided by a BCAA supplement
Dietary supplement: Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation
All participants will partake in the same diet & exercise regime but this group will also be placed on a BCAA intake level of 0.342g/kg of BCAA per day
Other: Exercise
Exercise will take place in a class based, circuit training setting run by a certified personal trainer composed of both aerobic and lifting exercises
Other: Diet
Each participants will be placed on a daily energy deficit of 500 calories for the 8 week study period.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Group
The placebo will be on a hypocaloric diet, exercise and receive isoenergetic beverage with carbohydrate instead of branched-chain amino acids
Other: Exercise
Exercise will take place in a class based, circuit training setting run by a certified personal trainer composed of both aerobic and lifting exercises
Other: Diet
Each participants will be placed on a daily energy deficit of 500 calories for the 8 week study period.
Other: Placebo
All participants will partake in the same diet & exercise regime but this group will receive an isocaloric placebo in form of carbohydrate solution

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measuring changes in Lean Mass over 8 weeks at different time points
Time Frame: 4 weeks & 8 weeks
Body lean mass (%) will be measured using BodPod
4 weeks & 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fat Loss changes over 8 weeks at different time points
Time Frame: 4 weeks & 8 weeks
Body fat loss (%) will be measured using BodPod
4 weeks & 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Western Ontario, Canada

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2016

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 9, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 10, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 15, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 20, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 18, 2016

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10009692

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