Background: Phosphorus status is inversely correlated with body weight; however, the effect of phosphorus supplementation on body weight in a controlled design has not been studied. Methods: This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 63 adults aged 18–45 years with a body mass index (BMI) of ⩾25 kg m⁻² and normal kidney function at the American University of Beirut. Participants were randomly assigned to the placebo or phosphorus group where daily placebo or phosphorus supplements were ingested with three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for a period of 12 weeks. Primary outcomes were changes in anthropometric measures, blood metabolites (including lipid profile, glucose and insulin) and subjective appetite scores. The trial is registered with Clinical Trial.gov, NCT02329990. Results: Body weight was significantly lower in the phosphorus group when compared with the placebo group (−0.65 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) −1.69 to 0.40) vs 1.13 kg (95% CI 0.19 to 2.06), P=0.01). Similarly, BMI and waist circumference were significantly lower in the phosphorus group when compared with the placebo group (−0.24 kg m⁻² (95% CI −0.59 to 0.12) vs 0.42 kg m⁻² (95% CI 0.05 to 0.78), P=0.01; −3.62 cm (95% CI−4.90 to −2.33) vs 0.38 cm ( 95% CI−0.44 to 1.20), P<0.001; respectively). Several parameters of subjective appetite scores were decreased in the phosphorus-supplemented group. Conclusions: Phosphorus supplementation for 12 weeks significantly decreases body weight, BMI, waist circumference and subjective appetite scores. These findings support a promising role of the mineral phosphorus in the prevention and management of obesity, especially abdominal adiposity. The exact mechanisms of action and longer-term effects still need to be elucidated.

Peptide-hormones, including pancreatic peptide-YY(PYY), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin (CCK), insulin, and leptin function as satiety signals, while ghrelin promotes hunger. These hormones are also involved in glucose homeostasis and body-weight regulation. The aim of this cross-sectional analysis was to examine the association of these peptide-hormones with obesity-markers, insulin-resistance, and dyslipidemia (total-cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG)). Sixteen-obese (OB) adults and 21 normal-weight (NW) age-and gender-matched counterparts were recruited. OB-participants showed significantly higher levels of leptin, insulin, Homeostatic-Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), and TG. NW participants had significantly higher levels of ghrelin. GLP-1 was positively correlated with insulin, HOMA-IR, and obesity-markers except percent body fat. Leptin was positively correlated with all markers (except glucose and dyslipidemia). PYY was positively correlated with BMI, insulin and HOMA-IR. Ghrelin was inversely correlated with all of the markers except glucose, TC, and LDL-C. In the regression analysis model, leptin was positively associated with obesity markers and insulin resistance. Our results indicate a significant difference in peptide hormones among OB and NW Lebanese individuals. Since there is controversial evidence regarding body-weight and peptide-hormones in the literature, this study highlights a step forward towards finding ethnic based strategies to treat obesity and its consequences.