Effect of a dietary supplement containing kurozu (a Japanese traditional health drink) concentrate on several obesity-related parameters in obese Japanese adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer Open Menu Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Home Food Science Publisher Functional Food Center Current Archives About About the Journal Aims and Scope Contact Editing Services Editorial Team Express Peer Review Graphical Abstract Journal Insights Privacy Statement Submissions Announcements Search Search Register Login Home / Archives / Vol. 3 No. 8 (2013): August 2013 / Research Articles Effect of a dietary supplement containing kurozu (a Japanese traditional health drink) concentrate on several obesity-related parameters in obese Japanese adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Authors Naobumi Hamadate Department of Research and Development, Egao Co. Ltd., 1-47 Higashihonmachi, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 862-0902 Ken-ichiro Nakamura Department of Research and Development, Egao Co. Ltd., 1-47 Higashihonmachi, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 862-0902 Motoko Hirai Department of Research and Development, Egao Co. Ltd., 1-47 Higashihonmachi, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 862-0902 Tetsuro Yamamoto Research Center, TTC Co. Ltd., 1-20-2 Ebisunishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 113-0021 Hideyo Yamaguchi Research Center, TTC Co. Ltd., 1-20-2 Ebisunishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 113-0021 Muneaki Iizuka Research Center, TTC Co. Ltd., 1-20-2 Ebisunishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 113-0021 Etsushi Yamamoto Research Center, TTC Co. Ltd., 1-20-2 Ebisunishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 113-0021 Yoshitaka Iwama Nihonbashi Cardiology Clinic, 13-4 Nihonbashi-Kodenmacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0001 Kazunaga Yazawa Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v3i8.45 Abstract Objective: This study was undertaken to examine the Kurozu concentrate (KC) based dietary supplement on several obesity-related parameters in obese Japanese male and female adults. Background: Kurozu, which is a specific type of rice vinegar produced by fermentation of unpolished brown rice, has long been used as a traditional health food and folk medicine in Japan. A recent animal study and our preliminary human study suggest that the KC supplement has potential for use in the management of obesity. Materials and Methods: A 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted involving 48 Japanese adult subjects (28 males and 20 females) with obesity. Subjects were either assigned to the group consuming the KC supplement for 12 weeks (870mg/day; 480 mg/day as KC) (n=24; 14 males and 10 females) or the placebo group (n=24; 14 males and 10 females). All test participants were assessed using several obesity-related parameters, including body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and abdominal fat computed tomography (CT) sections. These measurements took place at baseline and at week 12. Results: At week 12, a significant decrease in body weight (P<0.043) and nearly significant decreased values of BMI (P=0.052) were observed in the KC group compared to the placebo group. The reduction in waist circumference at week 12 within the KC group was not significantly greater than the placebo group. Examination of abdominal CT sections around the navel indicated that, although most of the values of the total fat area, subcutaneous fat area, and visceral fat area for both of the placebo and KC groups significantly increased during the 12-week intervention, the magnitude of increase in the total fat area for all subjects and that of the total fat area, subcutaneous fat area, and visceral fat area for females on one or more of three CT sections were significantly lower in the KC group than the placebo group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Although the results are not definitive, KC supplementation may have potential for improving some obesity-related parameters in obese subjects, particularly females. Key words: Kurozu concentrate (KC), KC-based dietary supplement (KC supplement), abdominal obesity-related parameters, body mass index (BMI), computed tomography (CT), abdominal fat Downloads [Abstract] [Full Article] Published 2013-08-09 Issue Vol. 3 No. 8 (2013): August 2013 Section Research Articles License Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged. 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