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DASH diet is a good choice for weight management particularly for weight reduction in overweight and obese participants.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Our study aimed to determine the effect of saffron supplement on clinical outcomes and metabolic profiles in patients with active RA. In this randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial, 66 women older than 18 years old received 100 mg/day either saffron supplement in the intervention group (n = 33) or matched placebo in the placebo group (n = 33) for a period of 12 weeks. Sixty‐one patients (30 in the control and 31 in the saffron group) remained for the final analysis. No adverse effects were reported by the patients. Saffron supplementation significantly decreased the number of tender (−1.38 ± 1.66 vs. 0.10 ± 0.40, p < .001) and swollen (−2.12 ± 2.34 vs. 0.63 ± 2.79, p < .001) joints, pain intensity based on visual analogue scale (−18.36 ± 15.07 vs. −2.33 ± 5.04), p < .001), and disease activity score (DAS28) (−0.75 ± 0.67 vs. 0.26 ± 0.77, p < .001) at the end of intervention between the two groups and in saffron group compared with baseline values. Physician Global Assessment (p = .002) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly improved after intervention (24.06 ± 12.66 vs. 32.00 ± 14.75, p = 0.028). High‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein reduced at the end of the intervention in the saffron group compared with baseline values (12.00 ± 7.40 vs. 8.82 ± 7.930, p = .004). Tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma, and malondialdehyde were decreased, and total antioxidant capacity were increased, but their differences between the two groups were not significant (p > .05). According to the results, saffron supplements could positively and significantly improve clinical outcomes in RA patients.

BackgroundThe health benefits of pomegranate juice have been reported in several studies. However, limited clinical trials have examined the effects of concentrated pomegranate juice (CPJ) on inflammatory factors.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the effects of CPJ on metabolic risk factors, including inflammatory biomarkers, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Patients and MethodsIn a quasi-experiment trial, 40 type 2 diabetic patients were asked to consume 50 g of CPJ daily for 4 weeks. Anthropometric indices, dietary intake, blood pressure measurements, and fasting blood samples were conducted at baseline and 4 weeks after the intervention.ResultsThe intake of CPJ produced a significant increase in both total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (4.7% and 3.9%, respectively) from baseline (P < 0.05). However, changes that were observed in serum triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting blood glucose, and blood pressure were not statistically significant. Administration of CPJ caused significant reduction in serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) (P < 0.05), but tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) remained unchanged during the study. The mean value of serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was substantially increased (~ 75%) from 381.88 ± 114.4 at baseline to 1501 ± 817 after 4 weeks of CPJ consumption.ConclusionsConsumption of CPJ (50 g/day) appears to have favorable effects on some markers of subclinical inflammation, and to increase plasma concentrations of antioxidants in patients with type 2 diabetes.