Effectual comparison of quinoa and amaranth supplemented diets in controlling appetite; a biochemical study in rats

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of two current cynosure protein substitutes; quinoa and amaranth in controlling short term food intake and satiety in rats. Experimental rats were allotted to three groups (n=8 per group) and fed with diets containing casein, quinoa and amaranth as major protein sources, with casein diet kept as control. At the end of the experiment it was observed that the rats ingesting quinoa and amaranth supplemented diets exhibited lesser food intake (p<0.01) and lesser body weight gain significantly in amaranth (p<0.05) as compared to control. They seemed to bring down plasma ghrelin levels while meliorating plasma leptin and cholecystokinin (CCK) levels postprandially (p < 0.01). Although both quinoa diet and amaranth diet were effective in improving blood glucose response and maintaining plasma free fatty acids (FFA) and general lipid profiles subsequently after the meal, amaranth diet showed significant effects when compared to control and amaranth diets. There was 15 % improvement in blood glucose profile in the amaranth group with respect to the control at 90 min, where as there was only 3.4 % improvement in the quinoa group. These findings provide a scientific rationale to consider incorporation of these modest cereals in a diet meant to fight against growing obesity and poverty.

Physiological Effects Associated with Quinoa Consumption and Implications for Research Involving Humans: a Review

“…Despite this limitation, it was shown that the inclusion of quinoa in the diet had a significant effect on cholesterol levels in as little as 15 days [28]. A similar acute cholesterol lowering effect has been previously reported among humans consuming β-glucan, where favourable outcomes were noted in as little as two weeks [37].…”

“…The consumption of quinoa in the diet was associated with a decrease in the concentration of plasma leptin by between 14% and 35% [31,22]. Post-prandial ghrelin and cholecystokinin differences among the quinoa group were respectively 5.4% lower and 45.5% higher than levels among the control group [28]. In addition, one of these studies investigated differences in the release of cytokines (such as monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin-1β and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) from adipose tissue (adipokines) among mice fed high fat diets [22].…”

“…This was shown to decrease food intake [20,21,28,29] and was given as an additional explanation for the incidence of decreased weight gain. A further rationale for the decreased food intake may be due to changes in the expression of gut hormones upon the consumption of quinoa.…”

“…A further rationale for the decreased food intake may be due to changes in the expression of gut hormones upon the consumption of quinoa. In particular, post-prandial cholecystokinin levels were elevated after the consumption of quinoa [28], resulting in a feeling of satiety. Although most commercially available quinoa has been processed to remove the bitter tasting saponins, the presence of protein, dietary fibre and phenolics within the seed may be capable of inducing feelings of satiety, assisting in the reduction of food intake and weight gain.…”

Evaluation of the functionality of bread loaves prepared with quinoa flakes through biological tests

“…This characteristic is interesting because saturated fatty acids elevate cholesterol while unsaturated fatty acids have protective effects and may reduce blood levels of LDL and triglycerides (Santos, Aquino, 2008;Mithila, Khanum, 2015). The addition of quinoa flakes to bread influenced the increase in oleic, palmitic and stearic fatty acids.…”