Effects of Turmeric on Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Mental Health, and Serum Homocysteine in Overweight, Obese Females.

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/m2. 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/m2 (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.