reducing body fat associated with a maintained fat-free
mass represents an important factor to prevent the weight
regain [33]. In the current study, eating carbohydrates
mostly at lunch associated with eating protein mostly at
dinner contributed to the preservation of the fat-free mass
since its decrement was not significant only in the DCNP.
Sofer et al. [14] investigated the effect of a low-calorie diet
(1,300–1,500 kcal) for 6 months, with carbohydrates eaten
mostly at dinner, and found higher reduction in body
weight, waist circumference, and fat mass compared with
control. In turn, Golay et al. [13] evaluated the effect of a
low-caloric (1,000 kcal/day) and high-protein diet on the weight loss of obese subjects, during 6 weeks, with a
high-protein lunch and a high-carbohydrate dinner, but significant
difference was no found between control and
experimental diet group for weight loss. Overall, the highprotein
dinner may contribute for a protein oxidation in order
to maintain the glucose homeostasis during the fasting period
at night since the dinner was a low-carbohydrate meal. Thus,
the body fat-free mass would be spared in DCNP by using the
eaten protein as an energy substrate, although the mechanisms
must still be elucidated by further researches