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Raspberry fruit extract found to lower weight gain and increase ambulatory activity

04/29/2020 // Evangelyn Rodriguez // Views

Tags: alternative medicine, berries, fat accumulation, fight obesity, food cures, food is medicine, fruits, functional food, goodfood, goodhealth, goodmedicine, goodscience, natural cures, natural medicine, phenolic compounds, phytonutrients, prevention, Raspberries, raspberry ketone, research, superfoods, weight gain

Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey tested whether phenolic-enriched raspberry extracts, compared with raspberry ketone, can promote resilience toward metabolic alterations caused by an obesity-inducing diet. Their study was published in the journal Nutrition Research.

• Red raspberries (Rubus idaeus) contain numerous phenolic compounds that provide health benefits.
• Raspberry ketone (4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone), a flavoring agent, is the primary aroma and flavor phenolic found in raspberries.
• In rodents, raspberry ketone consumption leads to weight loss.
• To determine if raspberry fruit extracts have the same effect, the researchers gave mice placed on a high-fat diet daily oral doses of either a vehicle (VEH) containing propylene glycol, water and dimethyl sulfoxide; low-concentration raspberry extract (REL); high-concentration raspberry extract (REH); or raspberry ketone (RK).
• They reported that after four weeks, REH and RK reduced body weight gain (five to nine percent) and white adipose mass (20 percent) compared with VEH.
• REH also up-regulated hepatic gene expression of heme oxygenase-1 and lipoprotein lipase compared with VEH.
• Indirect calorimetry revealed that the treatments all reduced respiratory exchange ratio (CO2 production to O2 consumption), suggesting increased fat oxidation.
• REH increased total ambulatory behavior and energy expenditure/lean mass in mice compared with REL.
• The treatments caused no differences in cumulative intake, meal patterns or hypothalamic feed-related gene expression.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that raspberry ketone and phenolic-enriched raspberry extract can prevent weight gain via different mechanisms that stop excess fat accumulation following exposure to a high-fat diet.

Journal Reference:

Kshatriya D, Li X, Giunta GM, Yuan B, Zhao D, Simon JE, Wu Q, Bello NT. PHENOLIC-ENRICHED RASPBERRY FRUIT EXTRACT (RUBUS IDAEUS) RESULTED IN LOWER WEIGHT GAIN, INCREASED AMBULATORY ACTIVITY, AND ELEVATED HEPATIC LIPOPROTEIN LIPASE AND HEME OXYGENASE-1 EXPRESSION IN MALE MICE FED A HIGH-FAT DIET. Nutrition Research. August 2019;68:19–33. DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2019.05.005

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