Intermittent caloric restriction (ICR) can effectively reduce weight and facilitate blood glucose control, but whether it can be applied for clinical treatment to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients remains unclear. What's more, in order to investigate whether the mechanism of glucose-lowering effect of ICR is related to the decrease of liver fat content, we intend to carry out this study in NAFLD patients with abnormal glucose metabolism. It is an open-labeled randomized trial designed to observe the effect of 5:2 intermittent calorie restriction (fasting 2 days each week) on liver fat content in NAFLD patients with abnormal blood glucose. 50 patients will be randomly divided into ICR group and control group for 12 weeks of intervention. ICR group: during the 2-day fasting-mimicking period each week, the food based on plant ingredients will be served (4 pieces of nutrition bars / day, 1:2:1 for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 124.4kcal / piece, 497.2kcal / day in total). In the rest 5 days each week, subjects are allowed ad libitum to their usual food. Control group: under the guidance of nutritionist, subjects have to learn the method of food calories calculation. The daily calories intake for control group should be: 25 kcal / kg × standard weight [kg, male: height (cm) - 105, female: height (cm) - 100]. Daily food diary is required in both groups. During the experiment, all subjects should maintain their exercise routine. The use of drugs affecting blood glucose and fatty liver should be avoided. After 12 weeks of intervention, the changes of liver fat content were evaluated by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The effects of ICR on body weight, blood glucose and body fat distribution will also be evaluated. Both groups will be followed up on their changes of weight 4 weeks after intervention.
This study is designed to observe the effect of 5:2 intermittent calorie restriction (fasting 2 days each week) on liver fat content in NAFLD patients with abnormal blood glucose.