Most obese subjects regain weight after weight loss due to compensatory adaptations finalized to maintain stable body energy stores. In lean or obese individuals, maintenance of a 10% or greater reduction in body weight is associated with a decline in 24-hour energy expenditure of approximately 20%-25%. The restraint of the energy expenditure decline during dieting by green tea (GT) preparations should be a useful strategy to facilitate weight maintenance. To increase absorption of GT, the investigators used a formulation with phospholipids (Greenselect Phytosome® ) added with piperine, a thermogenic agent and a booster of absorption for various phenolics.
At the end of a 3-month lifestyle intervention, all patients giving written informed consent were randomly assigned to two groups for the weight-maintenance phase: 20 of them were supplemented twice a day for 3 months with a dietary supplement (Globes®, Pharmextracta, Pontenure, Piacenza, Italy) and 20 with placebo.Women were blind to the supplementation throughout the whole trial. All women attended a monthly clinical visit during the supplementation period and 3 months after the end of supplementation.
