Effect of aerobic training with Chlorella supplement on insulin resistance and serum ghrelin levels in obese women

  Obesity and overweight are associated with many diseases. The effects of regular exercises or Chlorella on disease control have been also confirmed individually. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic training with Chlorella supplement on insulin resistance and serum ghrelin level in obese sedentary women. This randomized double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 32 obese women in Mahallat city, Iran, in 2017. The subjects were randomly assigned into four groups of exercise, supplementation with Chlorella, exercise plus supplementation, and control. Interventions were completed for 8 weeks. The daily intake of Chlorella was four 300 mg tablets (1 before breakfast, 2 before lunch, and 1 before dinner). The aerobic exercise program included running on a treadmill for 16 min with a maximum heart rate of 65% in the first week, which reached to 30 min and a maximum heart rate of 80% in the eighth week. Two days before and after the end of the interventions, blood samples were taken from all four groups in order to measure ghrelin, glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 16) using two-way and repeated measurements ANOVA. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Glucose and insulin levels, as well as insulin resistance were significantly reduced in the exercise plus Chlorella and exercise groups, compared to those in the other two groups (P<0.05). However, the levels and pattern of ghrelin changes were not significantly different among the four groups (P>0.05). Aerobic exercises lead to the reduction of insulin resistance in obese women, but no significant effect was observed on ghrelin. On the other hand, Chlorella supplementation did not show any significant effect on any of the variables. The use of Chlorella supplement along with aerobic exercise also exerted no effect