Effects of Green-MED Diet Via the Gut-fat-brain Axis (DIRECT-PLUS)

Effects of Green-MED Diet Via the Gut-fat-brain Axis; DIRECT-PLUS

Mediterranean (MED) diet, richer in plants/seeds (and dietary polyphenols) and low in processed meat (green-MED diet) may have a pronounced beneficial effect on age-related declines that begin in middle age, reflected by changes in adiposity, cognitive function, and cardiometabolic risk. The investigators hypothesize that long-term intake of this diet will significantly potentiate the effects of a healthy lifestyle (physical activity and Mediterranean diet), constituting a powerful strategy to halt or even reverse the progression of several age-related processes related to adiposity, cardiometabolic health and cognition. The investigators further hypothesize that lifestyle intervention might modify the gut microbiota profile and that autologous fecal microbiota supplement derived from the time of maximal weight loss might halt the expected subsequent regain phase.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Abdominal Obesity Metabolic Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Physical activity; Other: Physical activity+ MED diet; Other: Physical activity+green MED diet

Detailed Description

The investigators aim to compare the effect of green-MED diet+ physical activity (PA) vs. MED diet+ PA vs. PA on the gut-fat-brain axis and to explore the additional contribution of autologous fecal microbiota derived at the rapid weight loss phase on regain phase. Mediterranean (MED) diet, richer in plants/seeds (and dietary polyphenols) and low in processed meat may have a pronounced beneficial effect on age-related declines that begin in middle age, reflected by changes in adiposity, cognitive function, and cardiometabolic risk. The investigators hypothesize that long-term intake of this diet will significantly potentiate the effects of a healthy lifestyle (physical activity and Mediterranean diet), constituting a powerful strategy to halt or even reverse the progression of several age-related processes related to adiposity, cardiometabolic health and cognition. The investigators further hypothesize that lifestyle intervention might modify the gut microbiota profile and that autologous fecal microbiota supplement derived from the time of maximal weight loss might halt the expected subsequent regain phase. The investigators will follow the participants with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that will include abdominal and hepatic fat, cardiac and anatomic/functional brain assessments. The investigators will perform cognitive tests and will measure changes in gut microbiota and sub-metabolomic profiling. The trial will be performed in an isolated workplace (the Nuclear Research Center) which holds an exclusive cafeteria that provides free, dietary -monitored, lunch, and an internal medical department. The exclusive nutritional profile of walnuts, with its relative high polyphenols content and unique composition, may benefit several health outcomes. Epidemiologic studies and RCTs suggest that walnuts consumption is associated with better weight status, adiposity measures and cardiometabolic state. However, some individuals avoid walnuts because they are calorie-dense, and fear that they will promote weight gain. Walnuts contain numerous well-characterized beneficial nutritional components, such as unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fibers, and high levels of vitamins and minerals. Among other well-recognized components, nuts are highly rich in polyphenols, mainly flavonoids. Polyphenols may potentially interact with physical activity and promote neurogenesis; a process that may significantly contribute to the brain's ageing process. Similarly, the polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG, a type of catechin found in green tea), was proposed to exert neuroprotective effects. New specific developed strain of duckweed [Wolffia globose, "Mankai"] , an aquatic plant, which might serve as a protein source and contains all the 9 essential and the 6 conditional amino acids. "Mankai" [(Generally recognized as safe (GRAS)] is a cultivated strain of Wolffia globosa, which is an aquatic plant, part of the family of plants known commonly as duckweeds. Duckweeds are very simple flowering aquatic plants, which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of water. There is a long history of the use of Wolffia species, in particular Wolffia Globosa, as food, especially in Southeast Asia: Burma, Laos and northern Thailand, where it has been used as a vegetable for many generations. The nutritional composition of "Mankai" has been determined and found to be high in protein, containing all the essential and conditionally essential amino acids, dietary fibers and several vitamins and minerals.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 294
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Israel
  • Dimona, Israel
    • nuclear research center Negev

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 30 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

age >30 years with abdominal adiposity (waist circumference: men > 102 cm, women > 88 cm) or dyslipidemia (TG>150mg/dl and HDL-c <40mg/dL for men and <50mg/dL for women)

Exclusion Criteria:

Individuals who may not be able to partake in PA in the gym; TGs>400 mg/dL; serum creatinine>2 mg/dL; disturbed liver function; major illness that might require hospitalization; pregnant or lactating women; presence of active cancer, is receiving or received chemotherapy in the last three years; participation in another trial; participants who are treated with Coumadin (warfarin) - given its interaction with vitamin K and high level of this vitamin in "Mankai" green shake; pacemaker or platinum implant, because of the impossibility of MRI screening.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Physical activity; Physical activity (PA) group will receive free gym memberships and the instruction necessary to engage in moderate-intensity physical activity, ~80% of which will have an aerobic component. The participants will get basic health promoting guideline for healthy diet .	Other: Physical activity
Experimental: Physical activity+ MED diet; On top of the PA intervention described in Arm 1, the participants will be guided for moderate weight loss with a traditional Mediterranean (MED) diet, low in simple carbohydrates. The diet will include 1oz/day of walnuts that will be provided free of charge.	Other: Physical activity+ MED diet
Experimental: Physical activity+ green-MED diet; On top of the PA intervention described in Arm 1, the participants will guided for moderate weight loss with a MED diet, low in simple carbohydrates that will be rich in plants and polyphenols and low in processed meat. The diet will include 1oz/day of walnuts, 3-4 cups/day of green tea and ~500cc green shake/dinner based on specific strain of duckweed [Wolffia globose, "Mankai"], an aquatic plant, which might serve as a plant protein source. All the above will be provided free of charge.	Other: Physical activity+green MED diet; ****Sub-study from all 3 main arms: Autologous fecal microbiota supplement intervention derived from the time of maximal weight loss: At the 6-month time period, the time of anticipated greatest weight reduction, participants's feces samples will be processed to capsulized inocula. Samples will be frozen within 2 hours and will be kept at -80c pending analysis. Participants will be randomized to receive either research capsules or identical placebo capsules between 8 and 14 months time period. Placebo capsules will consist of a combination of powdered cocoa and vegetable gelatin in normal saline/glycerol and will be identical in appearance to research capsules.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Abdominal fat	Changes in visceral fat (MRI)	18 months
Hepatic fat	Changes in hepatic fat (MRI)	18 months
Obesity	Changes in body weight and waist circumference	6, 14, 18 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Brain anatomy	Changes in hippocampus volume, diffusion Tensor Imaging (MRI)	18 months
Cognitive function-MRI	Changes in resting state connectivity (MRI, sub-study)	18 months
Cognitive function	cognitive tests	18 months
Cardiac state	Changes in cardiac anatomy (MRI, substudy)	18 months
Cardiac state	Changes in cardiac function (MRI, substudy)	18 months
Endothelial dysfunction	Changes endothelial function (ECG)	18 months
Lipid profile	Changes in lipid biomarkers (blood draw)	6 , 14 and 18 months
Glycemic control	Changes in glycemic biomarkers (blood draw)	6 , 14 and 18 months
Inflammatory state	Changes in inflammatory biomarkers (blood draw)	6 , 14 and 18 months
Metabolomic	Changes in sub-lipids (blood draw)	18 months
Metabolomic	Changes in sub-proteins ( blood draw)	18 months
Liver function (blood biomarkers)	Changes in liver function biomarkers (blood draw)	6 and 18 months
Genetic signature	SNPs associated with fat distribution and visceral fat	baseline
Epigenetics	changes in mRNAs	18 months
Epigenetics	changes in genes' methylation	18 months
Well being	assessed by questionnaire	18 months
Fecal microbiota profile	Diversity Index as a key measure	6, 14, 18 months
24h- continuous glucose levels	24h dynamics of glucose using continuous glucose monitor. substudy	2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Collaborators: University of Leipzig; Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Iris Shai, PhD, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Zelicha H, Kloting N, Kaplan A, Yaskolka Meir A, Rinott E, Tsaban G, Chassidim Y, Bluher M, Ceglarek U, Isermann B, Stumvoll M, Quayson RN, von Bergen M, Engelmann B, Rolle-Kampczyk UE, Haange SB, Tuohy KM, Diotallevi C, Shelef I, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Shai I. The effect of high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet on visceral adiposity: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial. BMC Med. 2022 Sep 30;20(1):327. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02525-8.
• Rinott E, Meir AY, Tsaban G, Zelicha H, Kaplan A, Knights D, Tuohy K, Scholz MU, Koren O, Stampfer MJ, Wang DD, Shai I, Youngster I. The effects of the Green-Mediterranean diet on cardiometabolic health are linked to gut microbiome modifications: a randomized controlled trial. Genome Med. 2022 Mar 10;14(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s13073-022-01015-z.
• Kaplan A, Zelicha H, Yaskolka Meir A, Rinott E, Tsaban G, Levakov G, Prager O, Salti M, Yovell Y, Ofer J, Huhn S, Beyer F, Witte V, Villringer A, Meiran N, B Emesh T, Kovacs P, von Bergen M, Ceglarek U, Bluher M, Stumvoll M, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Friedman A, Shelef I, Avidan G, Shai I. The effect of a high-polyphenol Mediterranean diet (Green-MED) combined with physical activity on age-related brain atrophy: the Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial Polyphenols Unprocessed Study (DIRECT PLUS). Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 May 1;115(5):1270-1281. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac001.
• Tsaban G, Yaskolka Meir A, Zelicha H, Rinott E, Kaplan A, Shalev A, Katz A, Brikner D, Bluher M, Ceglarek U, Stumvoll M, Stampfer MJ, Shai I. Diet-induced Fasting Ghrelin Elevation Reflects the Recovery of Insulin Sensitivity and Visceral Adiposity Regression. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jan 18;107(2):336-345. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab681.
• Yaskolka Meir A, Rinott E, Tsaban G, Zelicha H, Kaplan A, Rosen P, Shelef I, Youngster I, Shalev A, Bluher M, Ceglarek U, Stumvoll M, Tuohy K, Diotallevi C, Vrhovsek U, Hu F, Stampfer M, Shai I. Effect of green-Mediterranean diet on intrahepatic fat: the DIRECT PLUS randomised controlled trial. Gut. 2021 Nov;70(11):2085-2095. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-323106. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
• Tsaban G, Yaskolka Meir A, Rinott E, Zelicha H, Kaplan A, Shalev A, Katz A, Rudich A, Tirosh A, Shelef I, Youngster I, Lebovitz S, Israeli N, Shabat M, Brikner D, Pupkin E, Stumvoll M, Thiery J, Ceglarek U, Heiker JT, Korner A, Landgraf K, von Bergen M, Bluher M, Stampfer MJ, Shai I. The effect of green Mediterranean diet on cardiometabolic risk; a randomised controlled trial. Heart. 2020 Nov 23:heartjnl-2020-317802. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2020-317802. Online ahead of print.
• Rinott E, Youngster I, Yaskolka Meir A, Tsaban G, Zelicha H, Kaplan A, Knights D, Tuohy K, Fava F, Scholz MU, Ziv O, Reuven E, Tirosh A, Rudich A, Bluher M, Stumvoll M, Ceglarek U, Clement K, Koren O, Wang DD, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Shai I. Effects of Diet-Modulated Autologous Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Weight Regain. Gastroenterology. 2021 Jan;160(1):158-173.e10. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.08.041. Epub 2020 Aug 26.
• Yaskolka Meir A, Tsaban G, Zelicha H, Rinott E, Kaplan A, Youngster I, Rudich A, Shelef I, Tirosh A, Brikner D, Pupkin E, Sarusi B, Bluher M, Stumvoll M, Thiery J, Ceglarek U, Stampfer MJ, Shai I. A Green-Mediterranean Diet, Supplemented with Mankai Duckweed, Preserves Iron-Homeostasis in Humans and Is Efficient in Reversal of Anemia in Rats. J Nutr. 2019 Jun 1;149(6):1004-1011. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy321.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 9, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 11, 2017
• First Posted (Estimate): January 13, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 15, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2019
• Last Verified: January 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Insulin Resistance; Hyperinsulinism; Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome; Obesity, Abdominal
• Other Study ID Numbers: BGU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No