Are Oranges the Cure to Obesity, Heart Disease, and Diabetes?
A molecule found in oranges and tangerines, called nobiletin, has been shown to drastically reduce obesity in mice. The molecule not only reduces obesity, it was proven to drastically improve factors that can lead to diabetes and other health problems. A group of researchers at Robarts Research Institute at Western tested the molecule on two sub sets of mice. All of the mice were fed a high fat, high cholesterol diet, but the mice that were given the molecule had reduced levels in blood fats and insulin resistance levels compared to the mice that were not given the molecule. Nobiletin can also reverse the plaque build up in the arteries.
The researchers however still do not know why or how the nobiletin works. The next steps the team want to take are testing to see if the molecule has the same effect on humans and finding out why this molecule has that effect on the metabolic system of mice.
Link to Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200303140158.htm
Second Link: https://www.jlr.org/content/61/3/387
The trials ran to come to the conclusion this article did are very interesting to me! Specifically, I wonder how further research will uncover these results; for example, what if mice on a well-balanced diet were compared to mice on a well-balanced diet, with the only difference being the nobiletin? It's shown that mice often prefer foods higher in carbohydrates, but the study compared mice on high-fat, high-cholesterol diets. Hopefully one day I stumble upon further research!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to know that oranges can have such a benefit to both human and mice. while it gives us humans our vitamin C and many other antioxidants, it lowers the rate of obesity in mice. I just wonder if the same molecule has the same effect on humans.
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