Acute and Medium Effects of Freeze-dried Kale to Go, New Superfood Supplement to Reduce Metabolic Risk in Saudi Subjects

Whilst obesity represents a key risk factor for the development of metabolic disease and further premature mortality, the actual type of diet may provide the 'primary insults' for inflammation affecting systemic health in the pre-diabetic state such as obesity. Specifically, previous data indicate that a high-fat diet and/or unfavorable systemic lipid profiles can impair metabolic health which may occur via inflammatory mechanisms. The study aims to conduct a randomized interventional dietary trial with Freeze-dried Kale, as a superfood, to reduce inflammation and improve lipid profile in patients with obesity. These studies will analyze the effects of this superfood on metabolic changes among obese and non-obese Saudi women. Our hypothesis is the inclusion of Brassica into the daily diet will significantly improve metabolic health, microbiota composition, lower inflammatory insults (inflammasome), and lower microbial translocation, with resulting improvements in metabolic health. The team, therefore, proposes to examine the impact of the superfood kale on lipid function (acute and medium-term) over a 4 week dietary intervention period to assess the influence on metabolic change and biomarker changes. The team intends to utilize the expertise from a broad spectrum of specialists from plant biologists, clinical and allied health care professionals, and translational scientists, to provide a unique holistic insight into the role of nutrition for metabolic health benefits in human participants. These studies will provide us with the capacity to use a directly applicable dietary supplement, freeze-dried Kale, to improve the health of people metabolically. As this is a natural product, this will have the capability to reach the market much quicker and advance research at a much faster pace. This dietary supplement will also provide an additional measure to improve the health across the general public not just those at increased risk of disease to help provide another way to improve health among Saudis.