El-Soud NHA1, Mohsen MA2, Joussef M2, Kazem Y3
1National Research Center - Complementary Medicine, Cairo, Egypt; 2National Research Centre - Child Health Department, Cairo, Egypt; 3National Research Center - Nutritional Products Department, Cairo, Egypt
Background: It is conceivable that toxic metals contribute to obesity by influencing various aspects of metabolism. On the same time, antioxidant micro nutrient rich diet can be a major factor in chelating heavy metals.
Objective: Evaluate the effects of a 2-month program of a balanced low-caloric diet rich in antioxidants and micronutrients on the level of lead, cadmium and aluminum in obese children.
Material and Methods: 65 children (11 to 14 years) with simple obesity (BMI > the 95th percentile) were selected in this study. Children were put on a balanced diet regimen high in antioxidants and micro nutrients with low calories (1500 cal/day) for 2 months. Levels of lead, cadmium and aluminum in 24- hour urine collected were measured before and after the intervention using atomic absorption spectrometry.
Results: Comparing before and after dietary intervention program, significant reduction was observed only in case of urinary lead and cadmium with P < 0.001. In addition to significant weight loss and reduction of BMI (kg/m2) from 29.1 to 27 with P<0.05.
Conlusion: Diet rich in antioxidants and micro nutrients could reduce the toxic effects of heavy metals in obese children and thus facilitate control of obesity.
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Citation: El-Soud NHA, Mohsen MA, Joussef M, Kazem Y. Effect of a 2-Month Program of Antioxidants-Micronutrient-Rich Diet on Concentrations of Lead, Cadmium and Aluminum in Obese Egyptian Children. Maced J Med Sci. 2011 Sep 30; 4(3):290-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/MJMS.1957-5773.2011.0184.
Key words: Antioxidant; diet; heavy metals; micro nutrients; obesity.
Correspondence: Prof. Neveen Helmy Abou El-Soud. National Research Center, Complementary Medicine, 33-El Bohouth street-Dokki, Giza 12311, Egypt. Phone: 0124359509. E-Mail: neveenster@gmail.com
Received: 17-Apr-2011; Revised: 04-Jun-2011; Accepted: 07-Jun-2011; Online first: 28-Sep-2011
Copyright: © 2011 El-Soud NHA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.