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Substance in Tangerines Blocks Diabetes in Mice Fed High-Sugar, High-Fat Diets

Diabetes Health Staff

Apr 30, 2011

Tangerines Thwart Obesity

Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes 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 and insulin-typical precursors to type 2 diabetes 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: Cholesterol, Diabetes, Diabetes, Diabetes Prevention, Diets, Eating, Food, Health, Heart Care & Heart Disease, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Obesity, Research, Type 2 Issues

Comments

Posted by Anonymous on 3 May 2011

can this be found in a supplement in vitamin shops

Posted by shosty on 3 May 2011

the title should read "type 2 diabetes"

Posted by Anonymous on 4 May 2011

Very interesting. Hopefully human studies are ubderway!

Posted by Anonymous on 18 July 2011

Unfortunately, what many people will take away from this article is, "It's okay to eat a lot of sugar and carbs--just add a tangerine or two and you'll be fine."

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Substance in Tangerines Blocks Diabetes in Mice Fed High-Sugar, High-Fat Diets

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