A hypocaloric diet enriched in legumes specifically mitigates lipid peroxidation in obese subjects

Legume intake could specifically protect against lipid peroxidation in addition to the effects associated to weight loss when included in hypocaloric diets. Thus, 30 obese subjects ( age: 36 +/- 8 years and BMI: 32.0 +/- 5.3 kg/m(2)) were nutritionally treated by a 8-week energy restriction ( -30% energy expenditure) with a legume enriched diet ( 4 days/week servings, n = 15) or without legumes ( control diet ( CD), n = 15). Body weight, circulating cholesterol, oxidized LDL ( ox-LDL), malondialdehyde ( MDA) and urinary 8-isoprostane F-2 alpha ( 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha)) were measured at baseline and at endpoint. After the nutritional intervention, all obese subjects lost weight, specially those individuals who followed the legumes-enriched diet as compared to the CD ( -7.7 +/- 3 vs. - 5.3 +/- 2.7%; p = 0.023), which was accompanied by marked decreases in total cholesterol levels ( p < 0.001) and statistically significant diet-related reductions on plasma ox-LDL, plasma MDA and urinary 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) output. Therefore, a balanced diet with moderate caloric restriction including 4 day/week legume servings empowered the oxidative stress improvement related to weight loss through a reduction in lipid peroxidation as compared to a control hypocaloric diet.