Effect of Low Caloric Diet Supplemented by Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Seeds and Black Cumin (Nigella sativa) Seeds and Its Mixture on Obese Adult Female Patients

Abstract

Obesity represents one of the most serious global health issues. The prevalence of obesity has increased at an alarming rate over the past 2 decades to the extent that it could be considered a pandemic. Over 1.9 billion adults (18 years and older) were overweight. Of these over 600 millions were obese. Overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3.4 million deaths, 4% of years of life lost, and 4% of disability-adjusted life years (Nazma et al., 2017). Obesity is highly prevalent in Egypt. The estimated prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) is 61-70% of the whole population aged 20 and above. This translates to 65% for males and 76% for females aged 15 and above. As for obesity alone, 18-22% of males are obese while 39-48% of females are obese (IASO, 2012; WHO, 2010). Obesity is a disease of multiple and complex causes leading to accumulation of large amounts of body fat due to an imbalance between energy intake and output. Usually, it is measured as excessive weight for a given height, using the body mass index (BMI): Weight in kilograms (kg) over height squared (m2). Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of various pathological conditions including insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Central to these conditions is obesity-associated chronic low-grade inflammation in many tissues including adipose, liver, muscle, kidney, pancreas, and brain (Heping et al., 2020). Treatment obesity by bariatric surgery gives results in significantly greater weight loss than conventional treatment for obese adults, but surgery is associated with a greater risk of complications including diabetes and hypertension (Kelly et al.,