It is well known that the excessive inflammation generated by the overweight condition can cause the immune system to hyper malfunction leading to an increased risk for autoimmune problems in overweight people. In the current animal study, both obesity…
Banaba leaf is a traditional Asian herbal medicine remedy for diabetes. In recent times it has garnered international attention for its ability to help lower blood sugar without adverse side effects. Modern science continues to build the case for banaba as an effective way to help manage blood sugar, including offsetting some of the problems like obesity and elevated cholesterol that offer occur simultaneously as metabolism falters.
A current review on the topic explains the results of numerous human, animal, and cell studies. The active components in banaba leaf are corosolic acid and an ellagitannin called lagerstroemin. The research has documented multiple mechanisms by which banaba helps promote normal blood sugar metabolism.
Human studies show that it can help lower blood sugar within 60 minutes by helping the transport of sugar into cells. It has been shown to help the glucose transporter proteins, especially GLUT4, which is active in fat cells and muscle cells. Improving metabolism of insulin within fat cells helps to correct leptin problems and food cravings that are typical in overweight individuals with elevated blood sugar. The typical human response is a 10-15% decrease in blood sugar within two hours of ingestion. The researchers conclude that banaba extracts standardized to corosolic acid “decrease fasting as well as postprandial blood glucose levels in humans.”
Animal studies have explored diverse mechanisms for the blood sugar benefits, also noting assistance for issues such as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides as well as weight loss benefit. Summarizing the animal science the researchers state, “In these studies, corosolic acid has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, increase cellular uptake of glucose, decrease serum triglycerides and cholesterol, facilitate weight loss, and improve oxidative stress markers without production of adverse or toxic effects.”
Numerous cell studies also document benefits for blood sugar, improved antioxidant function, and decreased inflammation. Interestingly, bone building stimulation of osteoblasts also occurs from banaba. And it is now clear that better bone health is associated with better blood sugar metabolism.
When a person improves their quality of food intake, eats in harmony with the hormone leptin, and consistently exercises they are creating the opportunity for an improvement in blood sugar metabolism. Various nutrients, such as banaba, can also help guide struggling blood sugar metabolism back in the right direction.
Glycomacropeptides (GMPs) are a typical component of whey protein. It now appears that the GMPs themselves, as distinct from the grams of protein, have distinct weight loss properties.
It is quite clear that whey protein, as compared to similar amounts of other proteins, is a highly superior food for weight management. This has been demonstrated in a number of human studies.
Its ability to help weight loss is partly due to the quality of the protein, ease of absorption, and high leucine content that helps correct insulin and blood sugar issues. Additionally, researchers have been looking into the biological activity of various other components of whey for their potential role as regulators of metabolism – factors that do not exist in most other protein sources.
One of these factors is the GMPs, which have known anti-inflammatory and immune-support regulatory properties. Most research on GMPs has focused on digestive health. We now know that stubborn weight issues are heavily influenced by inflammatory problems within white adipose tissue. A Chinese research group is exploring the relationship between GMPs and white adipose tissue health.
Their first study involved baby fat cells, seeking to determine if exposing them to GMPs influenced their behavior. They found that GMPs inhibited the rate at which baby fat cells became adult fat cells. Furthermore, GMPs reduced the amount of fat taken up by fat cells. Since overweight people have too many baby fat cells becoming adults too quickly and excessively filling up with fat, these initial cell results were encouraging.
In their most recent study they induced obesity in rats with a high fat diet. Some rats were fed various amounts of GMP along with the high fat diet over an 8-week period. The rats fed GMP had significantly less white adipose tissue weight gain. Their livers did not become fatty. They had lower levels of leptin (preventing leptin resistance). They had lower cholesterol and triglycerides. They had lower levels of free radical damage in the mitochondria of cells and the liver, as well as boosted antioxidant enzyme function. And they had lower levels of key inflammatory signals coming from fat (TNFa and IL6), which are the hallmark of sickly fat.
The number of anti-obesity benefits the researchers documented is stunning. They are consistent with findings of many human studies on whey protein in the weight loss context. It is quite likely that part of the weight loss benefit of whey protein has to do with metabolic regulation coming from the GMPs. It also tells us that there is more to food than the fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. Certain foods, such as whey protein, appear to be a metabolic powerhouse.
Many metabolic problems are adversely influenced by what is going on in the digestive tract. Adverse bacterial and Candida populations produce toxic byproducts and phantom metabolic signals that interfere with healthy metabolic function throughout the body. A new study shows that a multi-strain probiotic supplement helps improve the blood sugar metabolism in diabetic individuals.
Participants consumed a multi-strain probiotic daily for 8 weeks. The probiotic prevented blood sugar from rising during the study period, whereas it went up 28 percent in the control group. The C-reactive protein (CRP) marker of inflammation had decreased in the probiotic group and increased in the control group. The probiotic group also had elevated blood levels of the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione, indicating a better ability to tolerate stress within the circulation.
This study demonstrates that digestive health is an important factor to consider when looking into blood sugar metabolism. Clearly there is a link between poor digestive health and impaired blood sugar metabolism. It is not the only issue, but it is an important issue.
A person has a variety of strategies that can be employed to improve digestive health, one of which is taking a high quality multi-strain acidophilus product. Improvement in digestive health minimally helps remove stress from metabolic processes and may play a large role in helping to fix them (which will vary from person to person).
One word of caution – blood sugar medications have no intelligence in their sledgehammer approach to influencing metabolism. If a person is taking such medications then improving their metabolism by natural means may result in their dose of blood sugar medication being too high, which can cause hypoglycemia. I do know of one person on such medications who had a bout of low blood sugar following taking a multi-strain probiotic. Of course, a person should work with their health professional to adjust any medication dose. People who are taking blood sugar medication and improving their metabolism in any way, which includes many types of dietary supplements, need to be cognizant that their medication dose may need adjustment to accommodate improvement in their health.
Several years ago I reported on a Japanese study that showed men taking 300 mg of lactoferrin per day over an 8-week period lost almost 2 inches from their waistline. The same research group has now published a second study that helps identify how lactoferrin shrinks stomach fat.
The key finding was that lactoferrin reduced a substance called perilipin. Perilipin coats droplets of fat that are stored in fat cells, preventing them from being broken down. Lactoferrin directly reduces perilipin levels, in essence helping to open the gate so that stored fat particles can flow out of fat cells.
It is not surprising that lactoferrin has this ability. This nutrient is in very high levels following birth, a time when the baby is rapidly growing. Rapid growth requires fuel, including fuel in the form of fat. By liberating fat from storage, lactoferrin ensures that the energy needs for high growth are more likely to be met.
Later in life lactoferrin levels can be compromised by poor health, especially if a person struggles with sinus, oral, or digestive health issues. It is interesting that such issues often occur in overweight people, who are known to have higher-than-normal levels of perilipin. These higher levels of perilipin will make it more difficult to break down stored fat and lose weight.
Of course, if a person eats too much food the benefit of lactoferrin will be negligible, since fat that is being broken down will simply be sent back to storage because there is no need to burn the released fat as fuel. However, if a person eats a proper amount of calories and exercises, then lactoferrin is likely to help encourage the release of stored fat that will help sustain the person’s energy level while they lose weight.
It is certainly an option to consider for stubborn weight loss, for breaking through a weight loss plateau, or as a strategy to get rid of that last five problematic pounds.
Several years ago I reported on a Japanese study that showed men taking 300 mg of lactoferrin per day over an 8-week period lost almost 2 inches from their waistline. The same research group has now published a second study that helps identify how lactoferrin shrinks stomach fat.
The key finding was that lactoferrin reduced a substance called perilipin. Perilipin coats droplets of fat that are stored in fat cells, preventing them from being broken down. Lactoferrin directly reduces perilipin levels, in essence helping to open the gate so that stored fat particles can flow out of fat cells.
It is not surprising that lactoferrin has this ability. This nutrient is in very high levels following birth, a time when the baby is rapidly growing. Rapid growth requires fuel, including fuel in the form of fat. By liberating fat from storage, lactoferrin ensures that the energy needs for high growth are more likely to be met.
Later in life lactoferrin levels can be compromised by poor health, especially if a person struggles with sinus, oral, or digestive health issues. It is interesting that such issues often occur in overweight people, who are known to have higher-than-normal levels of perilipin. These higher levels of perilipin will make it more difficult to break down stored fat and lose weight.
Of course, if a person eats too much food the benefit of lactoferrin will be negligible, since fat that is being broken down will simply be sent back to storage because there is no need to burn the released fat as fuel. However, if a person eats a proper amount of calories and exercises, then lactoferrin is likely to help encourage the release of stored fat that will help sustain the person’s energy level while they lose weight.
It is certainly an option to consider for stubborn weight loss, for breaking through a weight loss plateau, or as a strategy to get rid of that last five problematic pounds.
It is now widely recognized by researchers all over the world that a major part of a person’s trouble losing weight or with excessive weight gain is that their white adipose tissue is in poor health – actually rather sickly.
Some of the common symptoms of sickly fat are trouble losing weight, easy weight gain when overeating (or in some cases eating normal meals), excess fatigue and lack of mental spark, succumbing to food cravings, mental preoccupation with food, and various aches and pains.
The hallmark of this sickly fat is the excess production of inflammatory signals which are self-amplifying, making the issue perpetually worse. Only the reduction of inflammation within the white adipose tissue offers any real hope for opening the door for improvement.
In order to understand the importance of this issue it is necessary to go beyond the traditional ideas of reducing calories and increasing exercise. Yes, such ideas are important especially if a person is eating too much and not very active. Any person that can cut back on calories, increase exercise, and lose weight to the point of getting to an optimal weight and maintaining it should thank their lucky stars that their fat had not become too sickly from the abuse they had put it through. Most people, especially as they get older, are not so lucky.
Many people trying to lose weight think of their excess pounds of fat as a stagnant blob that is simply chipped away as weight loss occurs, or added to as weight gain occurs.
In reality, white adipose tissue is a dynamic organ that is constantly storing and releasing fat. In overweight people it is storing more than it is releasing, and the process creates inflammatory friction. The important point to grasp is that white adipose tissue is metabolically active, albeit inefficient in overweight people.
Your white adipose tissue is constantly making new fat cells and killing off old ones at a rate that you hope is reflective of health. Newer fat cells produce hormones such as leptin and adiponectin in proper amounts, while older and stressed out fat cells make excess leptin and not enough adiponectin. Most nutrients that help weight loss help manage this process, helping your body make an appropriate amount of new fat cells and helping existing fat cells work better.
Of course, the largest stress to fat cells is excess food consumption, causing them to swell excessively in size and causing far too many new fat cells to form as a type of self-defense against being poisoned by too much food. As a person cuts back on food consumption and increases activity, an environment is created wherein fat calories in storage can be released and used as fuel if the fat cells are up to the task.
The problem for fat cells is that many of them are swollen, sprained, and sickly. When fat cells are crammed full they swell in size and their structure becomes unstable. They send out an SOS message to the liver to make more cholesterol to prop up their teetering three dimensional structure. All of this panic alarms the immune cells that naturally reside in the white adipose tissue, and these immune cells elevate a message (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, MCP-1) which causes immune cells from other areas of the body to enter the white adipose tissue – an event that ramps up inflammation within adipose tissue.
At the gene level, sickly fat has chronically elevated NF-kappaB, the core gene signal that regulates inflammation. In turn, immune cells within fat produce too much TNFa and IL6, as well as other inflammatory signals. This inflammation is self-perpetuating within the white adipose tissue due to continued excess food. The inflammation then spills out of the white adipose tissue and contributes to all manner of poor health as a form of significant stress, often contributing to aches and pains around one’s body. Any other health issue a person has is made worse by the inflammation coming from fat. And this is the nature of the downward health spiral of overweight America.
True enough, reducing calorie intake to a normal level and increasing exercise to an active level create an environment wherein weight loss might take place. If it doesn’t, it typically means that there are too many sprained and injured fat cells that simply can’t get in metabolic gear.
With nutrition you can help resolve this situation, both in the short term and long term. In the short term, nutrients that lower inflammation within white adipose tissue can help “put out the fire” as well as help relieve the sprained nature of existing fat cells. Such cells may still not run like new, but at least they can be better. In the long term, these same nutrients usually help produce new fat cells and regulate their efficiency, so that if you now don’t overeat you will gradually have a larger number of more functional fat cells. This later process can take several years or longer to reach a level reflective of dramatically better metabolism.
There are many nutrients that can help contribute to improve white adipose tissue function. Nutrients tend to work in slightly different manners, as the gene signaling involved with this process is highly complex. Thus, a variety of nutrients with known white adipose tissue metabolic benefits is desirable. How many different nutrients you employ or how high the dose of any one nutrient should be is unknown. Therefore, an appropriate amount is a level that helps you engage the process of weight loss, along with eating properly and being active.
Eating less has its limitations as within several weeks of significantly reduced calorie intake your body may begin to think it is starving and will slow down your metabolism. You may be able to get off a few pounds in this manner, but seldom will you get to a proper goal weight simply by cutting back on calories. And if you cut back too much you will be at risk for rebound weight gain, as your subconscious brain thinks it needs to recover from “starvation” by storing calories as fat.
Being more active is quite important. If you push exercise significantly you will need to eat more or you will be quite tired and more prone to injury. Being more active is also quite positive in that it can help prevent your body from thinking it is starving when eating less.
Increasing the number of supportive nutrients and/or their dose is quite safe. It is simply a matter of finding a combination and amount that help get your body out of the inflammatory rut. Using enough to engage the process of weight loss is important. If you hit a plateau you may need higher doses or other nutrients. As time goes along and your fitness improves, and you have more new metabolically active fat cells, you will need fewer nutrients.
Be careful, many people think that their improved metabolism can now tolerate their former excess – which may be true on occasion but not as an ongoing lifestyle pattern of eating.
The following is a list of nutrients with known anti-inflammatory properties within white adipose tissue.
Quercetin – Quercetin is recognized as a superior nutrient for lowering inflammation within white adipose tissue by a variety of mechanisms, including lowering TNFa, NF-kappaB, IL-6, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 1000 mg – 3000 mg per day.
Quercetin guards against excess formation of new fat cells while enhancing the death rate of old fat cells. It is also a potent antioxidant within white adipose tissue and can even help improve leptin resistance. It helps insulin resistance while assisting the activation of AMPK, which leads to fat burning.
Additional references:
Quercetin for Nerves, Allergies, Immunity, and Metabolism
Quercetin Can Guard Against Metabolic Syndrome, Fatty Liver, and Abdominal Fat
Quercetin Lowers Leptin and Colon Cancer Risk
Green Tea Catechins (EGCG) – EGCG is the active compound in green tea which activates genes in fat cells that prevent excess fat accumulation. Like quercetin it also activates AMPK to boost fat burning. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg of EGCG per day (approximately 1400 mg – 4200 mg of green tea, depending on extract potency).
When immune cells of white adipose tissue are exposed to EGCG they begin to regulate normally, no longer behaving in an inflamed manner. EGCG helps nerve tone, including the activation of the calorie-disposing brown adipose tissue. Numerous human studies show that EGCG is an excellent weight management nutrient.
Additional references:
The Effects of Green Tea on Weight Management
Green Tea Can Help Your Body Shed Excess Fat
Green Tea as a Potent Weight Loss Nutrient
Curcumin – Curcumin has long been recognized as an anti-inflammatory nutrient, thus it comes as no surprise that it potently reduces inflammation in white adipose tissue. This includes reduction of NF-kappaB, TNFa, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.
Curcumin helps lower leptin resistance, boost adiponectin, and reverse insulin resistance. It also helps turn on fat burning genes.
Additional references:
Curcumin Now Touted as a Significant Weight Loss & Disease Prevention Nutrient
Turmeric (Curcumin) and Cinnamon Lower Insulin and Triglycerides
Resveratrol – Resveratrol has been found to activate the Sirt1 gene in fat cells, highly synergistic with AMPK and increased fat burning. It also helps reduce inflammation within fat cells. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.
Resveratrol helps prevent fat accumulation in fat cells, helps speed the release of fat from fat cells, helps regulate new fat cell formation, and helps clear out old fat cells.
Additional references:
Resveratrol Helps Break Down Stored Fat
Is Resveratrol the Fountain of Youth?
Resveratrol Improves Insulin Function and Longevity
DHA – DHA reduces the accumulation of fat in fat cells, helps prevent fat cells from expanding in size, helps regulate the rate of new fat cell formation, reduces NF-kappaB and MCP-1, lowers leptin resistance, and boosts adiponectin. Typical weight management dose of DHA is 500 mg – 3000 mg per day, higher amounts to help more stubborn situations.
Additional references:
DHA Protects Against the Metabolic Flu of Obesity
DHA Omega 3 Fatty Acids in the War Against Obesity
How DHA Helps Inflammation and Diabetes
The above list of five nutrients is by no means a complete list. It is a list of nutrients that have the most science supporting their metabolic activity within white adipose tissue to help lower excess inflammation and promote healthier fat. This is a vitally important topic for healthy weight management.
Omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, are known to help metabolism of fat for many different reasons. They are one of the best, as well as most basic nutrients, for the support of healthy weight management. A new study shows that they can positively influence gene signaling in individuals prone to weight gain.
There is no question that many of us have altered gene signals that help promote the storage of fat. Some of these gene signals likely had a survival advantage in past times when food was scarce, but they work against us in modern times when food is often eaten in excess. When individuals with excessive fat-storing gene signals eat too much food they are up to three times more likely to store extra calories as fat.
Researchers looking over the entire human genome have linked higher activities of various genes with obesity. Genes are not written in concrete, rather they respond to environmental variables. Indeed, the new study shows that when omega 3 fatty acids are low then obesity genes are more active in storing calories as fat and when they are higher these genes are tamped down.
While the researchers did not offer any explanation as to why omega 3 fatty acids have this effect, I will. During evolution the intake of omega 3 fatty acids typically occurred in conjunction with significant protein and oftentimes with saturated fat – meaning that true starvation was not occurring. It appears that our bodies associate omega 3 intake with a lack of starvation, thereby permitting metabolism to run faster and not store fat.
If a person eats moderate and appropriate amounts of calories, while following the Five Rules of the Leptin Diet, and increases their intake of omega 3 fatty acids (especially DHA), then they will create a metabolic environment wherein metabolism is permitted to run faster and storing calories as fat is no longer as subconsciously important. It is a way to trick your genes into weight loss.
It is not a coincidence that America’s children are experiencing an asthma and obesity epidemic. Both conditions are marked by higher-than-normal levels of inflammation. One new study proves a molecular mechanism linking asthma and obesity and another study shows that routine anti-inflammatory supplements can reduce the need for asthma medication.
In the first study, it was demonstrated that the four inflammatory genes that are excessively activated in asthma are made worse by the inflammation coming from obesity, often causing the activity of these gene to double. Furthermore, weight loss was shown to cause a drop in these inflammatory gene signals.
“Our findings point the way to the management of asthma in the obese through simple weight reduction,” said first author Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University at Buffalo. “Ours is the first study to provide a mechanistic link between obesity and asthma through biological/immunological mechanisms,” Dandona said. “There has been, until now, no biological, mechanistic explanation other than the fact that obesity may raise the diaphragm and thus reduce lung volumes.” Importantly, the research established a connection between type 2 diabetes, obesity and asthma based on biological mechanisms. This is important because obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with a more than 100 percent increase in the prevalence of asthma, Dandona said.
The second study was a 16-week supplement intervention in 192 asthmatic school children. The children were given supplements of fruit and vegetable concentrates, omega 3 fish oil, and friendly flora probiotics (all of which reduce inflammation).
The supplement group, compared to placebo, showed significant improvement in lung function and a significantly reduced use of short-acting inhaled bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids.
Asthma, regardless of the cause, is partly an inflammatory problem. Managing any source of inflammation helps. The simple process of weight loss can have a major impact, as can nutrients that are inherently anti-inflammatory in nature.
Over the years I have written extensively on the value of fine quality whey protein isolates. A new 12-week study with obese adults, average age 48, showed that whey protein could significantly improve their metabolic profile on such key issues as lowering triglycerides, lowering cholesterol, and improving blood sugar metabolism (less insulin resistance).
Six weeks into the program those supplementing with whey protein had already lowered their triglycerides – a vital step required to improve leptin resistance and reduce cardiovascular risk. By 12 weeks they had significantly lowered their cholesterol. Additionally, various parameters relating to insulin function and glucose metabolism were tested and had significantly improved.
This study shows that whey protein, as part of a healthy diet, is a superior food source for improvement of metabolism. Many people find that having a whey protein drink for breakfast is not only fast and easy, it gets their metabolism off on the right foot and helps them eat less food later in the day.
