Tangerines

May 5, 2011

Diabetes Health Staff

Apr 30, 2011

Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high

concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> in lab mice. The researchers at the

University of Western Ontario fed the mice a high-sugar, high-fat diet that

mimicked the diet of many people in Western societies. One group of animals

became obese, developing fatty livers and elevated levels of cholesterol

-typical precursors to type 2

and cardiovascular disease. But a second group of mice, given the flavonoid

nobiletin, did not develop the symptoms of the first group. The nobiletin

prevented fatty buildup in the liver by blocking the genes that control the

production of fat.

Flavonoids are compounds found in plants, often as pigments, that are highly

anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory. Nobiletin, which is found in citrus

fruits, occurs in its highest concentration in tangerines. The Canadian

scientists also found that nobiletin protected the lab mice from

atherosclerosis, arterial plaque build-up that can lead to heart attack or

stroke.

The research leader, Murray Huff, a vascular biologist at the university,

had previously found a flavonoid in grapefruits, naringenin, that offered

lab mice protection against obesity. Huff said, however, that nobiletin

offers 10 times the level of protection against obesity that naringenin

does.

Results of the Canadian study, published in the medical journal Diabetes,

open the door for studies on nobiletin's effects on human test subjects.

_____

Categories:

Recommended Posts