Quinoa Seed Lowers Serum Triglycerides in Overweight and Obese Subjects: A Dose-Response Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a pseudo-cereal originally cultivated in the Andean region. The popularity of its seeds has increased in recent years due to the claims of health benefits and superfood qualities. Studies to date on the health benefits of quinoa have been restricted to animal models, and the results provide weak to moderate evidence to support improved plasma lipid profiles. Clinical trials in humans to examine the claims of health benefits of quinoa are limited to a few prospective studies and one randomized trial carried out in postmenopausal women. To our knowledge, no studies have been conducted in the general population. Objective: The objective of this randomized clinical trial was to investigate the effect of different quinoa doses (25 and 50 g/d) on body composition, serum lipids and hormones, and nutrient intakes in overweight and obese humans. Methods: This was a dose-response randomized, controlled, single-blind trial with a parallel design (1 control and 2 treatment groups) that compared the effect of 25 and 50 g quinoa/d in 50 overweight and obese participants over a 12-wk intervention period. Results: Body composition, nutrient intake, and total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol were not significantly altered by quinoa consumption (P > 0.05). Mean serum triglyceride (TG) concentration was reduced significantly in the 50-g quinoa group from 1.14 to 0.72 mmol/L at 12 wk (P < 0.05). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was also reduced in this group by 70%. No significant changes in TGs were observed in the control and 25-g quinoa groups. The prevalence of MetS was reduced by 40% (from n = 7 at baseline to n = 4 at 12 wk) in the 25-g group. Conclusions: The consumption of 50 g quinoa/d lowers serum TGs in overweight and obese participants and reduces the prevalence of MetS. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as UTN U1111-1175-470.

Effects of sprouted and fermented quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) on glycemic index of diet and biochemical parameters of blood of Wistar rats fed high carbohydrate diet

“…Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a pseudocereal of Andean origin that is being widely disseminated across continents because it has key nutritional qualities (Navarro-Perez et al 2017). It is classified as a low glycemic index (GI) food because it provides slow glucose release into the bloodstream following its intake (Onwulata et al 2008).…”

The effects of quinoa seed supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of controlled clinical trials

“…The sample size of the included studies ranged from 10 to 28 participants. Three studies were parallel (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; De Carvalho et al, 2014; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017) and two studies were cross over (Anusha et al, 2018; Mann et al, 2018) randomized clinical trial. Selected studies enrolled subjects with prediabetes (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; Anusha et al, 2018), healthy overweight and obese subjects (Mann et al, 2018; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017), and postmenopausal women (De Carvalho et al, 2014).…”

“…Three studies were parallel (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; De Carvalho et al, 2014; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017) and two studies were cross over (Anusha et al, 2018; Mann et al, 2018) randomized clinical trial. Selected studies enrolled subjects with prediabetes (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; Anusha et al, 2018), healthy overweight and obese subjects (Mann et al, 2018; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017), and postmenopausal women (De Carvalho et al, 2014). included studies carried out in different countries such UK (Mann et al, 2018), India (Anusha et al, 2018), Brazil (De Carvalho et al, 2014), Australia (Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017) and Peru (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017).…”

“…Selected studies enrolled subjects with prediabetes (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; Anusha et al, 2018), healthy overweight and obese subjects (Mann et al, 2018; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017), and postmenopausal women (De Carvalho et al, 2014). included studies carried out in different countries such UK (Mann et al, 2018), India (Anusha et al, 2018), Brazil (De Carvalho et al, 2014), Australia (Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017) and Peru (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017). Some studies enrolled only males (Mann et al, 2018) and females (De Carvalho et al, 2014) and the rest of included studies involved both genders (Abellán Ruiz et al, 2017; Navarro‐Perez et al, 2017; Anusha et al, 2018).…”

“…Such results were detected from human subjects. In a 12‐week intervention with a dose of 50 g/day quinoa, Navarro‐Perez et al reported that serum TG was lowered from 1.14 to 0.72 mmol/L, whereas they did not show any significant reduction for other lipid profile and anthropometric indices (Navarro‐Perez, Radcliffe, Tierney, & Jois, 2017). Furthermore, a 4‐week intervention was carried out in postmenopausal women analyzing the effect of quinoa flake consumption on lipid profiles and oxidative stress markers.…”