Black rice extract helps shed pounds in postmenopausal women

For postmenopausal women with obesity, 12 weeks of supplementation with black rice extract works to reduce fat accumulation, a recent study has found.

A total of 105 women who had stopped menstruating for more than a year were randomly assigned to receive supplementation with black rice extract (1 g/d) or placebo (maltodextrin, 1 g/d) for 12 weeks.

Of the women, 88 completed the study: 47 in the intervention group and 41 in the placebo group. At week 12, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry assessment showed that compared with the women in the placebo group, those in the black rice extract group had a much more lower trunk fat (p=0.04), total fat (p=0.04), and total body fat percentage (p=0.04).

While the black rice extract group had lower body fat percentage, the difference was only marginally significant. There were no marked differences in anthropometric measures such as weight, body mass index, waist circumference, or waist-to-hip ratio assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis.

Black rice is a good source of anthocyanidins, on top of dietary fibre, flavonoids, and other polyphenols. Rice oil contains nonatherogenic fatty acids and is rich in plant sterols, such as oryzanol. These bioactive components are unsaponifiable, nonglyceride components, which contribute to cholesterol-lowering effects reported in many animal and human studies. [Molecules 2020;25:5363]

Anthocyanins act on the skeletal muscle, liver, pancreas, and adipose tissue for stimulating different inflammatory cytokines, metabolic enzymes, and signalling pathways. These, in turn, promote anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and metabolic-stabilizing activity—mechanisms associated with regulation of obesity and diabetes, improving blood pressure and lipid profiles, and preventing atherosclerotic development. [Oxid Med Cell Longev 2017;2017:2740364]