Citrus fruits fight weight gain, diabetes, cholesterol
If you want to lose weight, eat. While this advice goes against everything that dieticians tell you, tucking in citrus fruits can help you not only prevent weight gain but also control diabetes and cut the risk of heart disease, two of the biggest problems associated with obesity.
The magic ingredient in citrus fruits is a flavonoid called naringenin, which helps the body burn extra calories.
Under a study, researchers from the University of Western Ontario divided mice into two groups. Both groups were given the same high-fat diet but one group’s food was fortified with naringenin.
Over time, the mice in the non-naringenin group gained weight and saw their cholesterol levels soar. Their insulin resistance increased, throwing their blood sugar levels off track and placing them at high risk of developing diabetes. Despite being on the same diet, those in the naringenin group didn’t have any of these conditions as the flavonoid corrected the triglyceride and cholesterol levels in them and encouraged their bodies to burn more calories.
Murray Huff, the lead author of the study, said, “The marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin. What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences.”
He said naringenin’s insulin-like properties corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance. It holds promises of a cure for metabolic syndrome. It is naringenin that gives citrus fruits, particularly grapefruit, its tangy taste.
Obesity is related to a host of chronic health ails, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, cancer, etc. The Canadian researchers are now conducting further studies to develop a naringenin-based drug for humans. The obesity drugs available now aren’t effective enough and come with a number of serious side effects, due to which they are not very popular with patients and healthy experts.
“We are examining the pharmacological properties of naringenin. The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans,” said Huff.
The findings have been published in the journal Diabetes.
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