ISU researchers study muscle mass impact on weight of women

Iowa State University researchers are looking for women to participate in a study on body mass and how it contributes to a person’s weight. I-S-U nutrition professor Paul Flakoll says they’re looking to get enough volunteers to pair up the women.He says they’ll match them so that they have women with identical muscle mass, but one woman will be the normal weight and one will be overweight. Flakoll says they want to see if they can determine what role the muscle plays in the women’s weight.He says the question they’re asking is, “would these two women have identical energy expenditure? Because muscle mass and lean tissue are really what drives the, you know, our energy expenditure on a daily basis. And so, if they have equal amounts of muscle mass, you might expect that they’d would have equal energy expenditures. But we kind of feel that’s probably not the case.” Flakoll says they’re looking for premenopausal women without major health problems that’re 18 years of age and older, who are non-smokers and are not pregnant or breastfeeding. Flakoll says the study will take two weeks and four visits. He says they’re studying the women in a “free living” situation, so you can come in and be studied and go home and then come back when needed again. The women in the study will be paid. Flakoll says there are a lot of factors involved in why women are overweight and he says they hope to learn more about why. He says they want to begin to get at the idea why some people become obese and some don’t. If you’re interested in participating in this study you may contact Darcy Johannsen at: 515- 294-1216.