Effects of protein versus simple sugar intake on weight loss in polycystic ovary syndrome (according to the National Institutes of Health criteria).

Objective: To compare the effects of protein vs. simple sugars on weight loss, body composition, and metabolic and endocrine parameters in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: A 2-month, free-living, randomized, single-blinded study.

Relation of nutrients and hormones in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Background: Insulin resistance, infertility, and hirsutism, common characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), improve with even modest weight loss. Optimal dietary treatment for PCOS is not known.

Objective: We compared the effects of acute protein administration with those of glucose challenges on hormones related to obesity and insulin resistance (ie, cortisol and insulin), hirsutism [ie, dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione], and hunger (ie, ghrelin).

Circulating bioactive androgens in midlife women.

Context: It is important to characterize the biological activity of circulating androgenic steroid hormones during the menopausal transition because these appear to impact the metabolic and cardiovascular health risk factors of women.

Objective: The objective of the study was to develop and characterize a cell-based bioassay that measures the androgen receptor-mediated signal transduction in serum.

Design: This was a clinically relevant experimental study nested in a sample population of a longitudinal cohort study.

Responses of inflammatory markers to a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet: effects of energy intake.

Background: Inflammation contributes to atherogenesis. Dietary fats may be proinflammatory.

Objective: The objective was to determine whether energy intake modulates the effects of low-fat, high-carbohydrate intakes on inflammatory markers.

Metabolic and endocrine effects of a polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich diet in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Effects of a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich diet were investigated in 17 polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients. After a 3-month habitual diet period, dietary fats were partly replaced with PUFAs for another 3 months. The PUFA-rich diet increased plasma linoleic acid from 28.

An ad libitum, very low-fat diet results in weight loss and changes in nutrient intakes in postmenopausal women.

Objectives: To determine whether a very low-fat diet (<15% of energy intake) consumed ad libitum during an 8-month period can achieve weight loss of 5% to 10% of initial body weight while still providing adequate intakes of other essential nutrients.

Design: Longitudinal, 8-month, ad libitum, free living, very low-fat diet trial.

Subjects: Fifty-four of the sixty-four healthy postmenopausal women recruited completed the entire study (age 59+/-8 years, BMI=29.

Effects of prune consumption on the ratio of 2-hydroxyestrone to 16alpha-hydroxyestrone.

Background: A higher urinary ratio of the biologically inactive estrogen metabolite, 2-hydroxyestrone (2OHE1), to the biologically active metabolite, 16alpha-hydroxyestrone (16alphaOHE1), may be associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. High fiber intake is also associated with decreased breast cancer risk.

Objective: We investigated the effects of prunes, which are naturally rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, on the concentrations of 2OHE1 and 16alphaOHE1 and on the ratio of 2OHE1 to 16alphaOHE1.