Effects of Phytoplant Diets on Body Weight, Feces Production, Body Fat, and Serum Lipid Levels in High-fat Diet-induced Hyperlipidemic Rats

This study was performed to evaluate the anti-obesity and lipid-lowering effects of phytoplant diets in rats fed with a high-fat/cholesterol diet (HFCD). Experimental diet formulae contained various phytoplants such as brown rice, barley, soybean, germinated brown rice, malt, black bean, sea tangle, and/or dietary fibers including polydextrose, garcinia combogia, glucomannan, L-carnitine, and chitosan. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with a HFCD for 6 weeks and then fed with a HFCD with/without phytoplants for another 6 weeks. Rats fed with phytoplant diets showed lower body weights, liver weights, visceral fat levels, and blood lipid levels compared to those of rats fed with HFCD alone. In addition, rats administered phytoplant diets showed increased daily feces production during the second experimental phase. These results suggest that phytoplant diets improve body weight, feces production, adipose tissue weight, and lipid metabolism.