Effect of Barley on Metabolic Syndrome Related Indicators in Overweight Japanese Men and Women
Tsubasa MATSUOKA1＊，Daisuke UCHIMATSU1，Toshiki KOBAYASHI1，Seiichiro AOE2
1Research and Development Center of Hakubaku co., Ltd., 2Department of Food Science, Faculty of Home Economics, Otsuma Women's University
The present study investigated the effect of β-glucan-rich barley on metabolic syndrome related indicators in Japanese men and women. Fifty Japanese men and women whose BMI was 27.8 ± 3.1 were selected. This study was carried out according to randomized，single-blind，and placebo-controlled procedures. Subjects were randomly assigned to either 30% barley (β-glucan intake 2.8 g per day) or white rice groups. The test meal was consumed for a period of 12 weeks. Results of the study showed a significant reduction in waist circumference in the barley group (p<0.05，repeated measures ANOVA). Significant differences between groups were not observed in other measured indicators，however，LDL-cholesterol，weight，and BMI tended to be lower in the barley group (p<0.10，repeated measures ANOVA). In addition，when compared with before and after intake，significant reductions in visceral and total fat area were observed only in the barley group (p<0.05，paired t-test). Furthermore，a significant positive correlation was observed in waist circumference and visceral fat area (r=0.465，p<0.01). From these results，it is suggested that 30 % barley meals may reduce waist circumference in Japanese men and women. This effect was suggested to be due to visceral fat area reduction.
Key words : Barley，β-glucan，waist circumference，visceral fat，metabolic syndrome. |
