The effect of hypocaloric diet enriched in legumes with or without L- arginine and selenium on anthropometric measures in central obese women

BACKGROUND: Identifying new ways to decrease adiposity will be very valuable for health. The aim of this study was to find out whether L-Arginine (Arg) and selenium a lone or together can increase the effect of hypocal oric diet enriched in legumes (HDEL) on anthropometric measures in healthy obese women. METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled t rial was undertaken in 84 healthy premenopausal women with central obesity. After 2 weeks of run-in on an isocaloric diet, participants were randomly considered to eat HDEL, Arg (5 g/d) and HDEL, selenium (200 µg/d) and HDEL or Arg, selenium and HDEL for 6 weeks. The following variables were assessed before intervention and 3 a nd 6 weeks after it: weight, waist circumference, h ip circumference, waist to hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), and fasting nitrite/nitrate (NO x) concentrations. Other variables (arm, thigh, calf and breast circumferences, subsca pular, triceps, biceps and suprailiac skinfold thic knesses, sum of skinfold thicknesses (SSF), body density (D) and es timated percent of body fat (EPF)) were assessed be fore and after intervention. RESULTS: HDEL showed a significant effect in reduction of w aist, hip, arm, thigh, calf and breast circumferenc es, triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfold t hicknesses, WHR, SSF, D and EPF. HDEL + Arg + selenium significantly reduced suprailiac skinfold thicknesses; and there was no significant effect of HDEL, Arg, sele nium and Arg plus selenium on weight, BMI and fasting NO x. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that HDEL + Arg + selenium reduce suprailiac skinfold thicknesses which represents the abdominal obesity reduction.