Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Twelve weeks of supplementation with onion peel extract and quercetin significantly improved weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, and total body fat in participating obese subjects compared to control.
Obesity is a significant health problem on multiple fronts as it is a direct risk factor for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers 1-4. Obesity has been called “the public health challenge of our time” 5 and cost our healthcare system $190 billion in 2005 6.
While weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry, simpler and more affordable ways are needed to help patients lose weight and reduce their risk of the many chronic diseases that accompany obesity. A 2016 study 7 involved 72 subjects (11 males, 61 females) aged 34 to 51 and a body mass index between 24 and 29.9 kg/2. They were given either two capsules containing 340 milligrams of onion peel extract (OPE) with 100 milligrams of quercetin (36 subjects) or placebo (36 patients) for 12 weeks. Before and after the study, the researchers took blood samples and body measurements. The onion peel/quercetin dosages that were used had successfully increased antioxidant levels in previous research 8.
After 12 weeks, researchers noted the following differences between the onion peel group and placebo:
| Onion Peel Extract (OPE) | Placebo | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (kilograms) | 1.2% decrease (70 to 69.2) | 0.5% decrease (69.4 to 69.1) | 0.02 |
| Body Mass Index (kg/m2) | 1.2% decrease (26.6 to 26.3) | 0.4% decrease (26.5 to 26.4) | 0.03 |
| Waist (centimeters) | 2.2% decrease (91.9 to 89.9) | 0.8% decrease (90.2 to 89.5) | 0.001 |
| Hip (cm) | 1.2% decrease (101.1 to 99.9) | 0.8% decrease (100.7 to 99.9) | 0.001 |
| Total body fat (%) | 1.6% decrease (38.2 to 37.6) | 0.2% increase (37.8 to 37.9) | 0.02 |
Beyond these results, perhaps most important was the 1.5% decrease in trunk fat in the onion peel group (42.1 to 41.5%) compared to a 0.4% increase in the placebo group (41.9 to 42.1, p = 0.06). The significance here lies in the fact that trunk fat (also known as “visceral adipose tissue”) is “directly related to the occurrence of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, which are known to be direct, independent risk factors of cardiovascular disease” 9-11.
For the researches, “Quercetin-rich onion peel extract supplementation changed the body composition of the overweight and obese subjects” and that “This result suggests a beneficial role of the anti-obesity effect of OPE human subjects.”
Source: Ji-Sook Lee et al. Onion peel extract reduces the percentage of body fat in overweight and obese subjects: a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutrition Research and Practice 2016;10(2):175-181; doi:10.4162/nrp.2016.10.2.175; pISSN 1976-1457 eISSN 2005-6168
© 2016 The Korean Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Community Nutrition. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)
Click here to read the full text study.
Posted October 17, 2016.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.
References:
- Calle EE, Rodriguez C, Walker-Thurmond K, Thun MJ. Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. The New England journal of medicine. 2003;348(17):1625-1638.
- Kannel WB, Cupples LA, Ramaswami R, Stokes J, 3rd, Kreger BE, Higgins M. Regional obesity and risk of cardiovascular disease; the Framingham Study. J Clin Epidemiol. 1991;44(2):183-190.
- Fujimoto WY, Bergstrom RW, Boyko EJ, Leonetti DL, Newell-Morris LL, Wahl PW. Susceptibility to development of central adiposity among populations. Obes Res. 1995;3 Suppl 2:179s-186s.
- Bouchard C, Bray GA, Hubbard VS. Basic and clinical aspects of regional fat distribution. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;52(5):946-950.
- Bassett MT, Perl S. Obesity: the public health challenge of our time. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(9):1477.
- Cawley J, Meyerhoefer C. The medical care costs of obesity: an instrumental variables approach. Journal of health economics. 2012;31(1):219-230.
- Lee JS, Cha YJ, Lee KH, Yim JE. Onion peel extract reduces the percentage of body fat in overweight and obese subjects: a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutr Res Pract. 2016;10(2):175-181.
- Kim J, Cha YJ, Lee KH, Park E. Effect of onion peel extract supplementation on the lipid profile and antioxidative status of healthy young women: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial. Nutr Res Pract. 2013;7(5):373-379.
- Despres JP. The insulin resistance-dyslipidemic syndrome of visceral obesity: effect on patients’ risk. Obes Res. 1998;6 Suppl 1:8s-17s.
- Albu JB, Kovera AJ, Johnson JA. Fat distribution and health in obesity. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;904:491-501.
- Matsuzawa Y, Shimomura I, Nakamura T, Keno Y, Kotani K, Tokunaga K. Pathophysiology and pathogenesis of visceral fat obesity. Obes Res. 1995;3 Suppl 2:187s-194s.
