If you, like many others, are into sports and want to keep your body in shape, I have some interesting news for you from the scientific laboratory. An ordinary fruit can become your ally in the fight against extra pounds. This is exactly the potential that Korean scientists saw in unripe tangerines. The results of the work were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
What exactly was researched?
The scientists did not take the fruits themselves, but an extract from the peel of unripe mandarins of the Citrus unshiu variety. Why unripe ones? Because, as it turned out, the concentration of the beneficial substances that interest us is much higher in them.
They didn't conduct the experiment on humans (this is important!), but in the lab, on a special fat cell model. Essentially, they observed under a microscope how this extract would affect fat at the cellular level.
And what does he do?
It turned out that the extract works in two directions at once, which is very cool for any weight loss product.
1. Blocks the creation of new fat cells. There are precursor cells in our body that, under certain conditions, can turn into full-fledged fat cells (adipocytes), ready to accumulate fat. So, the extract seems to tell them: “Stop, you don't need to become fat.” It suppresses the activity of the genes responsible for this transformation. Fewer new “storage” for fat means fewer problems.
2. Accelerates the burning of existing fat. The extract activated a process called lipolysis, which is when fat cells break down the fat stored inside and release it into the bloodstream as energy. In simple terms, it forces the cells to “give up” their stores.
Why does this work?
Scientists have found that the main “heroes” are three substances in the peel: the flavonoids tangeretin and nobiletin, as well as phytol.
These compounds do something really important: they activate a special enzyme called AMPK. You can think of AMPK as the master energy manager in your cells. When it's active, the cell gets a signal: “It's time to burn energy, not store it!” That's exactly what you need to lose weight.
However, don't rush to eat green tangerines.
Everything described above happened in a test tube (in vitro). This is only the first, albeit very promising, step.
This is not a ready-made diet. There is no evidence yet that eating the skin of unripe tangerines will have the same effect or be safe.
There is still a lot of research to do. Now, scientists need to test whether this extract will work in animals, and then in humans. They need to determine the right dosage, test safety, and test real-world effectiveness.
This study is great news, showing that nature can give us natural tools to maintain a healthy weight. Perhaps in a few years, effective and safe sports supplements based on this extract will appear. For now, the best weapons against fat remain a balanced diet and regular exercise. But now we know that science does not stand still and, perhaps, we will soon have another assistant.
Джерело: ukr.media
