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Abstract

Obesity is a serious global health threat that has been associated with several chronic diseases. Some kinds of complementary
medicine such as herbal medicine claim to help shed weight quickly. The effectiveness and safety of these products are under
question. Certain herbs such as psyllium, green tea, yohimbe, bitter orange, guarana, and cumin may help in weight loss programs.
But no herbal treatment can completely cure obesity without calorie restricted diets. We are going to present plenary discussion
regarding the effectiveness of some traditional herbs in weight loss. In our recent clinical trial, we determined the effect of cumin
powder as an adjuvant therapy in calorie restricted administered overweight/ obese women. According to our results, adding 3
gram/d of green cumin to a 500 calorie deficient diet resulted in more decrease in body weight, BMI, waist circumference, fat mass,
TG, Chol, LDL and increase in HDL compared to only calorie restricted diets (p<0.05). Percentage of fat mass decreased 14.64 and
4.91 in cumin and control groups respectively. We have not yet identified the exact components within this herb that are responsible
for the effects. But its dietary fibre and some fatty acids may be the active components. It is important to know that simply adding
herbs is unlikely to make any significant difference to a person’s weight without any change to diet and life style. In fact, such herbs
can only be used as an aid through a weight loss program with the emphasis on energy intake and physical activity changes.

Biography

Azadeh Nadjarzadeh has studied nutrition in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Currently she is working as a head of Nutrition Department of Shahid Sadoughi
University of Medical Sciences (Yazd, Iran). Also, she is the head of Nutrition and Food Security Research Centre. Her research interests are obesity, diabetes and infertility
and the effect of dietary supplements on these conditions.