Introduction

Obese people have harmful fats such as Low-density Lipoprotein (LDL), Total Cholesterol (TC) and Triglyceride (TG) that are above natural. These fats deposit the artery walls and can narrow or block the arteries, resulting in high blood pressure. One of the most effective ways to prevent overweight is to control nutrition (reduce calorie intake) and burn calories by aerobic exercise [4]. The use of herbal supplements and foods in the treatment of diseases and metabolic disorders has become widespread. Kefir is a type of drinkable yogurt originated in the Caucasus Mountains in the former Soviet :union:. This fermented drink is composed of beneficial probiotic bacteria [6]. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of aerobic exercise and daily consumption of kefir dough on lipid profile, blood pressure and body composition indices in overweight women.

Materials and Methods

The study population consists of all overweight women living in Arak, Iran with a Body Mass Index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25 kg/m2, who had no other sports activity except daily physical activity. Subjects were randomly divided into four groups of control, exercise, supplement, and exercise + supplement. The control group had a normal diet without exercise; the supplement group received 100 ml kefir dough three meals a day for 8 weeks; the exercise group performed aerobic exercise for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, each for 50 minutes. Each session consisted of 10 min warm-up and 30 minutes of main exercise. To examine the biochemical variables, blood samples were taken from the subjects 24 hours before the first training session and after the last training session. LDL, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and TG levels were measured using photometric method and enzymatic assay was used for measuring the TC level. The data were analyzed in SPSS software where the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data distribution, one-way ANOVA for assessing between-group differences, and paired t-test for evaluating within-group differences.

Results

The demographic and physiological characteristics of participants are presented in Table 1.

The results showed that HDL concentration increased in all groups, but this increase was not significant in any group. The LDL level decreased significantly in two groups of exercise and exercise + supplement. The ANOVA results showed no significant difference between groups in terms of HDL and LDL levels (P≥0.05). The TG level in the exercise group increased by 18%, while it was decreased in the exercise + supplement group by 6%. The TC levels increased by about 4.3% in the exercise + supplement group, but decreased by 4.6% in the supplement group. These differences in the TC and TG levels were not significant (P≥0.05). According to the one-way ANOVA results, there was no significant difference between groups in terms of TG (P=0.55) and TC (P=0.09). The mean blood pressure decreased in most subjects, where the highest reduction was reported in the exercise + supplement group (10%). This reduction was significant in the exercise + supplement (P=0.003) and exercise (P=0.007) groups; however, it was no significant between groups (P=0.74). The BMI value was reduced in all groups, but it was significant only in the two groups of exercise (P=0.04) and exercise + supplement (P=0.03). Based on the one-way ANOVA results, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of BMI (P=0.51). Regarding the Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR), there was no significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores of the groups (P≥0.05), and between study groups (P=0.52).

Discussion

The results of the present study show that aerobic exercise alone had significant effects on LDL and blood pressure levels, but it had no significant effect on the HDL,TC and TG levels. The TC and TG levels were reduced after 8 weeks of exercise, but the difference between pre- and post-test scores was not significant. This is consistent with results of Jurima et al [8]. They reported that the TC and TG levels did not change significantly after 24 weeks of exercise compared to baseline values. They suggested that it might because of insufficient exercise intensity. Zolads et al. suggested that, in order to increase HDL level, exercise should be done daily and with sufficient intensity and duration [9]. The present study reported that kefir dough alone had a significant effect on the LDL level. Despite the reduction in HDL, TC and blood pressure observed in the exercise + supplement group, the difference between the two groups was no significant. Consumption of kefir along with aerobic exercise caused a significant difference in blood pressure between the pre-test and post-test scores, but between groups, the change was significant changes only in terms of the maximum oxygen consumption and body fat percentage. Consumption of kefir along with aerobic exercise caused significant difference in weight and BMI between pre- and post-test scores, but there were no significant difference between study groups.

Conclusion

It seems that overweight women can use aerobic exercise combined with kefir dough supplementation to reduce their hypertension and BMI. Further studies are recommended on the effects of aerobic exercise and kefir dough supplementation on WHR, HDL, LDL, TG, and TC.

Ethical Considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines

This study has obtained its ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee of Qom University (Code: IR.QOM.REC.1398.01)

Funding

The present paper was extracted from the MSc thesis of the first author (Code: 2002,1404941013), Department of Physical Education, Mahallat Branch, Islamic Azad University.

Authors' contributions

 All authors met the writing standards based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Conflicts of interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
 

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