The Effects of Selected Hot and Cold Temperament Herbs Based on Iranian Traditional Medicine on Some Metabolic Parameters in Normal Rats

Abstract

This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of diets containing some hot and coldtemperament herb seeds according to Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) on some metabolicparameters in acute (24 h) and sub-acute (7 day) experiments that were performed on rats. Foreach experiment, effects of diets containing 10% herb seeds in category of hot (anise, fennel,ajowan) and cold (cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin) temperaments were analyzed on bodyweight gain, food intake, water consumption, urine output, serum glucose (SG) and insulinlevels of rats. In the acute experiment, anise or fennel fed groups showed a significant decreasein food intake and there were not any changes in other parameters. The hot temperament groupsin comparison with the cold temperament ones showed a significant decrease in food intakeand a significant increase in SG level. In the sub-acute experiment, anise and fennel fed groupshad a significant decrease in body weight gain on the 4thday. On the 7th day, the anise fed groupexperienced a significant decrease in body weight gain and a significant increase in SG levels.The groups that were fed hot temperament diets compared to the ones that consumed coldtemperament diets showed a significant decrease in body weight gain and food intake rates anda considerable increase in SG levels. Considering the findings of this study, one can concludethat it is possible that hot temperament herbs such as anise and fennel be useful for humans forcertain conditions such as weight control.