Clin Nutr Res.  2015 Jul;4(3):168-174. 10.7762/cnr.2015.4.3.168.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) Tea Drinking Suppresses Subjective Short-term Appetite in Overweight Women

• Bae J
• Kim J
• Choue R
• Lim H

• KMID: 2148626
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7762/cnr.2015.4.3.168

Abstract

Appetite controlling has been an main strategy for regulating food intake and energy balance in obesity treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of drinking tea of the medicinal herbs, fennel and fenugreek, on the subjective appetite in overweight Korean women. The study was conducted using a placebo-controlled, single-blinded, randomized, and 3-way crossover design. Nine healthy women were given fennel tea (FT), fenugreek tea (FGT), or placebo tea (PT). After drinking a given tea, a lunch buffet was provided and then food consumption of subjects was analyzed. Subjective appetite, hunger, fullness, desire to eat, and prospective food consumption were measured at seven independent time point using a visual analog scale (VAS). Mean age of 9 subjects were 49.7 +/- 4.5 years and their mean body mass index were 24.6 +/- 0.6 kg/m2. There was no significant difference in food consumption in the lunch buffet after drinking each tea; however, with respect to the subjective appetite scale, FGT decreased hunger, led to less prospective food consumption, and increased feelings of fullness compared with the PT (p < 0.05). Similarly, the consumption of FT resulted in decreased hunger, less prospective food consumption, and increased feelings of fullness compared with the PT (p < 0.05). The area under the curve of VAS graph indicated that FGT resulted in a higher feeling of fullness than the PT (p < 0.05). In conclusion, drinking the FT and FGT were significantly effective aid to suppress subjective appetite among overweight women in South Korea.

Keyword

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare); Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum); Visual analog scale; Appetite

MeSH Terms

Appetite*
Body Mass Index
Cross-Over Studies
Drinking*
Eating
Female
Foeniculum*
Humans
Hunger
Korea
Lunch
Obesity
Overweight*
Plants, Medicinal
Tea*
Trigonella*
Visual Analog Scale
Tea

Figure

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  Figure 1 Study design. A placebo-controlled single-blinded randomized 3-way crossover design. Subjects: 9 healthy overweight women (23.0 kg/m2 ≤ body mass index < 25.0 kg/m2).

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  Figure 2 Visual Analog Scale (VAS) according to time passage. Mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) for PT: placebo tea (control), FT: fennel tea, FGT: fenugreek tea. All analyses were arranged using two-way repeated measures ANOVA and verified using the Tukey's range test (p < 0.05). (A): Hunger (210 min) was significantly lower for FGT than PT, (B): Fullness at 90 min and 210 min were significantly higher for FT and FGT than PT, (C): Desire to eat (210 min) was significantly lower for FT than PT, (D): Prospective food consumption at 90 min and 210 min were significantly lower for FT and FGT than PT.

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