Abstract
Context . The prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated comorbidities has progressively risen. Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, and turmeric aqueous extract, a concentrated form, have been reported to have beneficial effects in treatment of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors. However, turmeric has not been studied in its natural form.
Objective . The present study planned to evaluate the beneficial effects of turmeric in its natural form on obesity-related, cardiovascular-disease risk factors in overweight or obese females.
Design . The study used a pre-post, single-arm design.
Setting . The study took place in the Department of Physiology at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (Dammam, Saudi Arabia).
Participants . The participants were 36 young female students at the university, with a body mass index >= 23 kg/m(2).
Intervention . Participants received a daily dose of 2 g/d of turmeric in capsules for 90 d.
Outcome Measures . Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum homocysteine, and mental health status- stress, anxiety, depression scores-were recorded at baseline and postintervention. Dietary intake and physical activity (confounding variables) were also measured.
Results . The following anthropometric measures were reduced significantly between baseline and postintervention: (1) body weight-73.47 vs 72.45 kg (P=.04), (2) body mass index-28.75 vs 28.27 kg/m(2) (P=.02), (3) waist circumference-81.85 vs 77.96 cm (P=.01), (4) hip circumference-102.72 vs 98.10 cm (P=.001), (5) body fat %-34.34 vs 32.58 (P=.00), (6) systolic blood pressure-119.12 vs 115.92 mm Hg (P=.04), and (7) anxiety scores-7.88 vs 4.73 (P=.03), as compared by paired t test. Homocysteine levels and stress and depression scores showed no significant changes. Dietary intake and physical activity did not vary significantly throughout the study period.
Conclusion . Turmeric has the ability to reduce weight, decrease body fat percentage, lower systolic blood pressure, and relieve anxiety for young, obese and overweight females, when given at 2 g/d for 90 d.