Japanese researchers reported in October 2004 that
apple polyphenol extract
reduced organ fat by 27% and increased muscle strength by 16% in three weeks
in laboratory animals.
Trials are
reportedly now underway at the Nippon Sport Science University in Japan to
confirm these effects in humans. For the latest news and medical studies on
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In a Brazilian study of overweight women, those eating
apples and pears showed
significant weight loss.
New research published in the medical journal Diabetes
showed that apple polyphenol extractsignificantly decreased body fat in mice, even
with increased food intake.
Weight loss associated with a daily intake of three
apples or three pears among overweight women.
Conceicao de Oliveira M, Sichieri R, Sanchez Moura A.
Instituto de Medicina Social, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of fruit intake on body weight change.
METHODS: Hypercholesterolemic, overweight (body mass index > 25 kg/m2), and
non-smoking women, 30 to 50 y of age, were randomized to receive, free of
charge, one of three dietary supplements: apples, pears, or oat
cookies. Women were instructed to eat one supplement three times a day in a
total of six meals a day. Participants (411 women) were recruited at a
primary care center of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Fifty-one women had fasting blood cholesterol levels greater than 6.2 mM/L
(240 mg/dL) and 49 were randomized. Subjects were instructed by a dietitian
to eat a diet (55% of energy from carbohydrate, 15% from protein, and 30%
from fat) to encourage weight reduction at the rate of 1 kg/mo. RESULTS:
After 12 wk of follow-up, the fruit
group lost 1.22 kg (95% confidence interval = 0.44-1.85), whereas the
oat group had a non-significant weight loss of 0.88 kg (0.37-2.13). The
difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.004).
To explore further the body weight loss associated with fruit intake, we
measured the ratio of glucose to insulin. A significantly greater decrease
of blood glucose was observed among those who had eaten fruits compared with
those who had eaten oat cookies, but the glucose:insulin ratio was not
statistically different from baseline to follow-up. Adherence to the diet
was high, as indicated by changes in serum triacylglycerols, total
cholesterol, and reported fruit intake. Fruit intake in the oat group
throughout treatment was minimal. CONCLUSIONS:
Intake of fruits may contribute to
weight loss.
Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Randomized Controlled Trial
PMID: 12620529 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Diabetes. 2004
Nov;53(11):2901-9.
Phloridzin
improves hyperglycemia but not hepatic insulin resistance in a transgenic
mouse model of type 2 diabetes.
Zhao H, Yakar S, Gavrilova O, Sun H, Zhang Y, Kim
H, Setser J, Jou W, LeRoith D.
Diabetes Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1758, USA.
The chronic hyperglycemia that occurs in type 2 diabetes may cause
deterioration of beta-cell function and insulin resistance in peripheral
tissues. Mice that express a dominant-negative IGF-1 receptor, specifically
in skeletal muscle (MKR mice), exhibit severe insulin resistance,
hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, and hyper-glycemia. To determine the role of
hyperglycemia in the worsening of the diabetes state in these animals, MKR
mice were treated with phloridzin
(PHZ), which inhibits
intestinal glucose uptake and renal glucose reabsorption. Blood glucose
levels were decreased and urine glucose levels were increased in response to
PHZ treatment in MKR mice. PHZ
treatment also increased food intake in MKR mice;
however, the fat mass was
decreased and lean body mass did not change. Serum insulin, fatty
acid, and triglyceride levels were not affected by PHZ treatment in MKR
mice. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp analysis demonstrated that glucose
uptake in white adipose tissue was significantly increased in response to
PHZ treatment. Despite the reduction in blood glucose following PHZ
treatment, there was no improvement in insulin-stimulated whole-body glucose
uptake in MKR mice and neither was there suppression of endogenous glucose
production by insulin. These results suggest that glucotoxicity plays little
or no role in the worsening of insulin resistance that occurs in the MKR
mouse model of type 2 diabetes.
Excerpts:
"Phloridzin
(PHZ) is an antidiabetic agent that is found primarily in apple
peels.
"PHZ
treatment decreases fat mass in MKR mice.
Compared with WT controls, vehicle-treated MKR mice had slightly lower
average body weights.
Whole-body fat mass in MKR mice was significantly reduced in response to
PHZ treatment.
"The
weight of white adipose tissue in MKR mice was decreased in response to
PHZ treatment
(Fig. 2D-E). When expressed as a percentage of body weight,
gonadal and inguinal fat pad
weights decreased by 27 and 30%, respectively
