The Effects of Combination of Functional Beverage(Garcinia Cambogia, L-Carnitine, and Soy Peptide) and Exercise on the Improvement of Body Fat

Background: There is abundance of studies on the decrease in body fat through limited calorie intake or exercise; however, studies focusing simultaneously on functional foods and exercise are rare. This study was aimed to identify the effects of combination of a functional beverage and exercise on body composition and biochemical metabolic profiles. Method: Eighty-one healthy volunteers (69 females aged 19 to 50 years and 12 males aged 19 to 55 years), who maintained their body weight stable with 23 or higher in BMI (kg/$m^2$) and 25% or higher body fat for the last three months, were recruited in the study through written advertisement. All the subjects gave their informed consent, and the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study design was a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled parallel group design. All participants were given 12-week programed-exercise, which was performed 3 times a week. One bottle (100 ml) of test (Garcinia cambogia 300 mg, L-carnitine 20 mg, Soy peptide 1,000 mg) or placebo solution was given daily 30 min before each session of programed-exercise. BMI (body mass index), %fat, local fat amount (visceral and mid-thigh), waist circumference, skin fold thickness and some biochemical metabolic parameters like glucose, insulin and free fatty acids, etc in the blood were measured and compared before and after 12-week intervention within groups as well as between groups according to the protocol Results: Twenty six volunteers were dropped out and fifty five volunteers completed the study. At the end of 4, 8, and 12 weeks, approximately 1.98%, 3.00% and 3.50% losses of initial body weight were observed, respectively, in the test group (P<0.01), and 0.29, % ,0.74%, 1.60%, respectively, in the placebo group (P>0.05). BMI changed by 2.40%, 3.41% and 4.46%, respectively, in the test group, and 0.38%, 0.95% and 1.75%, respectively, in the placebo group, at each period of time. The reductions of body weight and BMI were significantly higher in the test group than in the placebo group at each period of time (P<0.05). Conclusions: It is thought that the combination of functional beverage, which contains mostly garcinia cambogia, L-carnitine, and soy peptide, and exercise have synergy effects on reducing body fat.