Effects of fasting and detraining on body composition, lipid profile and maximum oxygen uptake of active postmenopausal women

Introduction: During Ramadan, type and amount of energy intake dramatically change in Muslims and fasting individuals often reduce the duration and intensity of physical activities or avoid exercise during this month. However, one of the major issues of trainers and athletes is lack of training, which could have adverse effects on some cardiovascular parameters. Methods: This research was conducted on 19 healthy menopausal women, selected via co‌nvenience and purposive sampling. Two study groups consisted of inactive menopausal women with fasting (n=9) and fasting women with a detraining period (n=10), who regularly exercised before Ramadan, but avoided physical activity during this month. Anthropometric indices, maximum oxygen uptake and lipid profile indicators of the samples were measured before and after Ramadan. Data analysis was performed using Student's t-test. Results: In this study, no significant changes were observed in the body composition indicators: body mass index, body fat percentage and waist-to-hip ratio of the study groups. According to our findings, while the maximum oxygen uptake decreased in both groups, this reduction was not statistically significant. In addition, while high-density lipoprotein levels significantly decreased and low-density lipoprotein levels significantly increased, no significant changes were observed in the levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride in the fasting with a detraining period group. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, while fasting for one month led to no significant improvement in the cardiovascular risk factors of inactive postmenopausal women, it had no adverse effect on lipid profile indicators.