1. Introduction
Obesity, weight loss
OBESITY, BLOOD, PATHOLOGY, BLIND
Obesity has reached pandemic proportions and has become a major health concern worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to find new strategies against this condition and its associated comorbidities. Green coffee polyphenols (GCP) and oat beta-glucans (BGs) have proven their hypolipidaemic and hypoglycaemic effects. This study aimed to examine the effects of the long-term consumption of supplements containing GCP, BG or the novel GCP/BG combination on lipid and glucose metabolism biomarkers in overweight/obese subjects who maintained their dietary habits and physical activity, hence addressing the difficulty that this population faces in adapting to lifestyle changes. A randomised, crossover, blind trial was carried out in 29 volunteers who consumed either GCP (300 mg), BG (2.5 g) or GCP/BG (300 mg + 2.5 g) twice a day for 8 weeks. Blood samples were collected, and blood pressure and body composition were measured at the beginning and end of each intervention. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-C) cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin, fasting glucose, insulin, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and different hormones and adipokines were analysed. Only VLDL-C (In recent years, overweight/obesity has become a major health concern worldwide, with the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) report stating that, in Europe alone, approximately 60% of adults suffer from this condition [Focusing on dietary fibre, both soluble and insoluble dietary fibre (IDF) promote digestion and contribute to weight loss by interfering with the absorption of fats and sugars and modulating gastric emptying, thus leading to an increase in satiety. However, only SDF has a prebiotic effect, being able to be metabolised by the colonic microbiota, promoting the growth of certain species, such as lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria [In addition to their hypoglycaemic properties, BGs also have a marked hypolipidaemic effect, as observed in numerous clinical trials. Two major meta-analyses, one by Ho et al. [The mounting evidence supporting the effect of BG in regulating cholesterol levels resulted in another favourable opinion by the EFSA regarding BG properties, stating that the regular consumption of at least 3 g/d of BG contributes to maintaining normal blood cholesterol levels [Concerning polyphenols, many studies have shown that these bioactive compounds exhibit a wide range of health-promoting properties. Among polyphenols, it is worth mentioning hydroxycinnamates, a large group of compounds (notably caffeic, ferulic, Considering all the scientific evidence on the benefits of oat BG and hydroxycinnamates on overweight/obesity, we hypothesised that the combination of both bioactive compounds could have synergistic effects, thus providing a more reliable nutritional tool to combat this pathology. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the regular consumption of food supplements containing oat BG, hydroxycinnamates from a decaffeinated green coffee (GCP) extract or the combination of both on different lipid and glucose metabolic biomarkers in subjects with overweight/obesity.