Brown seaweed contains promising fat fighter, weight reducer (press release)

Chemists in Japan have found that brown seaweed, a flavor component used in many Asian soups and salads, contains a compound that appears in animal studies to promote weight loss by reducing the accumulation of fat. Called fucoxanthin, the compound achieved a 5 percent to 10 percent weight reduction in test animals and could be developed into a natural extract or drug to help fight obesity, the researchers say.
The compound targets abdominal fat, in particular, and may help reduce oversized guts, the scientists say. Their study was presented today at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Fucoxanthin is a brownish pigment that gives brown seaweed its characteristic color and also conducts photosynthesis (the conversion of light to energy). It is found at high levels in several different types of brown seaweed, including a type of kelp that is used in traditional Japanese miso soup. But fucoxanthin is not found in abundance in green and red seaweed, which also are used in many Asian foods, the researchers say.
The brown seaweed used in the current study was Undaria pinnatifida, a type of kelp also known as wakame, which is widely consumed in Japan. As kelp forests are found in abundance along the California coast, the new research findings could represent a potentially lucrative market if kelp -- of which there are many varieties -- can be developed into effective anti-obesity drugs, according to the scientists.
"I hope that our study [points to a way to] help reduce obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere," says study leader Kazuo Miyashita, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, Japan. The compound appears to fight fat through two different mechanisms, he says.
The study involved more than 200 rats and mice. In obese animals fed fucoxanthin, the compound appeared to stimulate a protein, UCP1, that causes fat oxidation and conversion of energy to heat, Miyashita says. The protein is found in white adipose tissue, the type of fat that surrounds internal organs. As the abdominal area contains abundant adipose tissue, the compound might be particularly effective at shrinking oversized guts, the researcher says. This is the first time that a natural food component has been shown to reduce fat by targeting the UCP1 protein, he says.
The pigment also appeared in animal studies to stimulate the liver to produce a compound called DHA, a type of omega-3 fatty acid, at levels comparable to fish oil supplementation. Increased levels of DHA reduce 'bad cholesterol' (low density lipoprotein), which is known to contribute to obesity and heart disease. But unlike fish oil supplements, fucoxanthin doesn't have an unpleasant smell, Miyashita says. No adverse side effects from fucoxanthin were reported in the mice and rats used in the study.
But eating lots of seaweed is not the quickest or most convenient path to weight loss, Miyashita cautions. He notes that a person would probably need to eat huge amounts of brown seaweed daily to cause noticeable weight loss. That's because fucoxanthin is tightly bound to proteins in the seaweed and is not easily absorbed in the form of whole seaweed. However, he hopes to extract the most active form of fucoxanthin from brown seaweed so that it can be developed into a pill that people can take daily or as needed.
Human studies are planned, the researcher says, but adds that it may take three to five years before such an anti-obesity pill is available to consumers. Until then, people should continue to eat a well-balanced diet and get plenty of exercise, he says. Funding for the current study was provided by the Japanese government.

U.S. government to launch official exercise guidelines to combat rampant obesity among population

The Bush administration announced Thursday that guidelines for physical activity are under development -- to be released in late 2008 -- which officials hope will guide the public toward healthier lifestyles and lower health care costs.
"Obesity is an epidemic, and chronic disease inevitably follows. It has become a major quiet killer," said Mike Leavitt, the health and human services secretary, adding that more than half of U.S. adults do not get enough beneficial physical activity, one-quarter are inactive during their leisure time, and more than 60 million are obese. Leavitt said that a lack of exercise is a major part of the $2 trillion spent on health care, three-quarters of which is used to treat chronic disease.
While the government has a vested interest in promoting healthy choices among Americans -- including fruits and vegetables -- Leavitt said that forceful steps such as the proposed trans fat ban in New York City restaurants are not necessary.
"You cannot create a culture of wellness through regulations and penalties," he said. "If we simply burden people with guilt or we appeal only to their fears, it won't happen."
Current government exercise guidelines recommend 30 minutes of physical activity a day minimum, with 60 minutes a day to prevent weight gain, and 90 minutes to promote weight loss. The new guidelines -- recommended by a panel from the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Childhood Obesity -- would establish a process to routinely evaluate the best science on physical activity and make recommendations based on the results.
"If we can have the best science brought to bear and you can put out guidelines that would be age-specific, something for school, something for home, you could end up with something that might be useful," said MCCO member Dr. Douglas Kamerow.
One natural health expert was less optimistic.
"If the government's exercise guidelines are as useless as its food pyramid guidelines, we're all in for many more decades of rampant obesity," said Mike Adams, creator of the Honest Food Guide, a free downloadable replacement to the USDA's My Pyramid food guide. "Trusting our government to teach us about health is like trusting Big Pharma CEOs to teach us about ethics. Consumers are far better off learning about health on the internet than from any government agency."

OHSU research demonstrates possible health risks for children born to overeating mothers (press release)

According to the latest research from the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC), overeating during pregnancy may have significant and numerous health impacts on an unborn child. The research was led by Kevin Grove, Ph.D., a scientist in ONPRC's Division of Neuroscience. Grove just returned from Australia where he presented his lab's latest research results at the prestigious 10th International Congress on Obesity.
The research demonstrated that the offspring of mothers who overeat are at risk for liver and pancreas damage. Both of which can contribute to early-onset obesity and diabetes. In addition, significant brain changes can occur in the offspring of some mothers who overeat. These changes take place in the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that controls weight regulation. The data suggest that children born to mothers who eat a high-fat diet may be predisposed to weight problems.
"There has been much scientific debate about the impacts of maternal diet versus environment when it comes to childhood obesity," explained Grove. "In conducting human observational studies, it has been difficult to determine whether the health problems of overweight children are linked to their mother's diet during pregnancy, the consumption of a high-fat diet after birth, or both. This study helps answer the first part of the question by demonstrating the negative impacts of a high-fat diet during pregnancy in a very good model for human obesity: the Japanese macaque."
Specifically, in studying pregnant female monkeys who ate a high fat-diet, the research team noted liver damage in 100 percent of the offspring. Pancreas damage and changes to the hypothalamus occurred in some, but not all of the offspring. The researchers also noted that, like humans, some pregnant monkeys were more susceptible to a high-fat diet than others. While some animals would quickly gain weight in response to the high-fat diet, other monkeys would not. Interestingly, pancreas damage and changes in the hypothalamus were more likely to occur in the offspring of animals that were more sensitive to the high-fat diet, but the liver damage was evident in all offspring.
"Clearly we have much more to learn, but the data strongly confirms the importance of a well-balanced diet for pregnant women," explained Grove. " Our future studies will attempt to determine whether these programming problems can be prevented through immediate diet change during pregnancy and when that change needs to occur."

Sugary Beverages Fuel the Obesity Epidemic (press release)

Over the past 20 years or so, Americans have developed quite the sweet tooth, with an annual consumption of sweeteners at about 100 pounds per person. During these same years, many more Americans—particularly children—have become overweight and obese. Added sweeteners, such as high-fructose corn syrup, may be one of the major reasons, says the October 2006 issue of the Harvard Health Letter.
Sweeteners added to sports beverages and juice drinks are particularly troubling because many people think those drinks are healthful. But studies have shown that people don’t cut back on their overall calorie intake to offset the extra calories from such beverages. Researchers are beginning to document the adverse health outcomes. Harvard researchers recently reported that women who drank one or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day were 83% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who drank less than one a month. Not surprisingly, they were also more likely to gain weight.
The Harvard Health Letter notes that one of the problems with sweetened beverages is that they are watery. High-calorie drinks that are low-viscosity (thin) may deceive us by preventing our bodies from “reading” calories, a capacity that depends, in part, on the thickness of a liquid.
In March 2006, the Beverage Guidance Panel issued a proposed “guidance system for beverage consumption.” The six-level system emphasizes beverages with no or few calories—especially water—over those with more calories. It also recommends drinking no more than 8 fluid ounces of sweetened sodas, juice drinks, or energy/sports drinks per day.
Source: Harvard Health Letter

Salt intake linked to obesity, say Finnish scientists

Research from scientists in Finland -- which was just recently published in the journal Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases -- could increase pressure on the food industry to reduce salt content in a wide range of foods. The researchers found that salt intake reduction helps combat obesity.
Study authors Dr. Heikki Karppanen of the University of Helsinki and Dr. Eero Mervaala of the University of Kuopio performed and published the study, saying that "The increased intake in salt has apparently played an important role in the increase in the consumption of soft drinks and, hence, also in the increase in energy intake." The study went on to add that "Higher consumption of sweetened beverages was associated with both a greater magnitude of weight gain and an increase risk for development of type-2 diabetes."
According to the study, 64 percent of the adult population of the U.S. is now considered obese, with 16 percent of American children obese as well. Obesity has been repeatedly linked with an increased risk of certain health conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
The two doctors who authored this study looked at their home country of Finland and determined that in the population under 65 years of age, an average 30 to 35 percent reduction in salt intake during 30 years in Finland was associated with a 75 to 80 percent decrease in both stroke and coronary heart disease mortality.
The doctors also reported that life expectancy of both male and female Finnish citizens increased by six to seven years during the same period. To support the study, the researchers noted that numerous scientists are convinced that high salt intake is responsible for increasing blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension.
Scientists also report that in the United States, the average salt intake per person since the mid-1980s has increased from an average of 10.2 grams per day per person to more than 15 grams per day per person -- a 55 percent increase per person.