Dietary therapy of obesity: Effect on some hormonal and biochemical blood indices

It is now clear that the presence of obesity substantially increases the risk of related co-morbidities such as insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension and others. The objective of this study was to measure adiponectin, insulin hormones, and homocysteine concentrations in obese Egyptian women before and after diet therapy that consisted of a hypo-caloric regimen supplemented with a formula rich in dietaryfiber, folate and betaine. This study investigated serum adiponectin, insulin, homocysteine, lipid profiles, haemoglobin and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) value in twenty eight volunteer obese women, whose mean age was 47.86±2.18 years and body mass index (BMI) was 34.10± 0.95 kg/m2. The studied period was 8 weeks divided into two phases, 1 and 2 of 4 weeks each. In the first phase, the women consumed a hypo-caloric diet (900-1000 Kcal/day) plus the supplement made from highly extracted wheat (82%) composited with ground peanutsat a 50:50 ratio, prepared as cookies of; 20 g each. Two cookies were consumed at breakfast and one at dinner, to replace the bread carbohydrate content. In the second phase, the same subjects consumed only the hypo-caloric diet. Results showed that fasting serum glucose, insulin, homocysteine concentrations and HOMA values were reduced significantly (P<0.01) at the end of the 1st phase, while adiponectin hormone was slightly decreased (1.3%). Homocysteine concentration increased significantly (P<0.05) at the end of the 2nd phase, while the other parameters showed only numerical increase. Adiponectin was positively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) at P<0.01 at all phases of the study, while insulin and HOMA were negatively associated at the start of the study. Homocysteine was positively correlated (P<0.05 and P<0.01) with cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glucose at the basal test, than with systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and HOMA (P<0.01) at the end of the 1st phase. In conclusion, the weight reducing diet supplemented with the dietary fiber rich formula in the short-term might have a beneficial effect on body weight, insulin and homocysteine. Adiponectin showed minor changes, but its role against dyslipidemia could be suggested.