Background: In addition to fruits and vegetables, functional foods such as kefir have also shown great potential in helping to address obesity issues. This study evaluated the effects of consuming mango mix kefir and watermelon milk kefir on lipid profiles, including cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides among obese women.Methods: Sixty obese women were divided into two groups receiving either mango mix kefir or watermelon milk kefir for a period of 4 weeks.Results: Mango mix kefir contributed to a reduction in cholesterol level by 5 mg/dL (MD: 5, 95% CI: -13.5-3.5, p=0.248) and LDL by 6.6 mg/ dL (MD: 6.6, 95% CI: -13.7-0.4, p=0.066). However, no significant changes were observed in HDL and triglycerides for the mango mix kefir group. On the other hand, watermelon milk kefir resulted in a negligible reduction in cholesterol (0.3 mg/dL), HDL (2.5 mg/dL), LDL (4.8 mg/dL), and triglycerides (2.6 mg/dL), while none of which were statistically significant (p values ranging from 0.184 to 0.945).Conclusion: The findings suggest that mango mix kefir has a more promising potential in improving lipid profile compared to watermelon milk kefir, though the effects were not significant to draw a definitive conclusion. Further research with longer intervention durations and more controlled variables is recommended to better understand the impact of these kefir variants on lipid metabolism and obesity management.
Wijaningsih et al. (Sun,) studied this question.