Tangerines Fight Obesity and Diabetes

During this time of year tangerines are out in force at supermarkets and produce stores all across the country. Grab yourself a bag full and start juicing and eating them today because more and more research is showing their value to our health in a big way.

Protection Against Diabetes And Obesity

Research from the University of Western Ontario is showing a substance in tangerines that can protect against obesity, type 2 diabetes and also heart disease. It’s called Nobiletin, a flavonoid found in the white parts of the fruit. Murray Huff, a vascular biology scientist at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, along with Erin Mulvihill, a PhD student conducted the study, published in the journal Diabetes.

In this research mice were fed two different types of diets. Group one was given a “western” diet of high fats and simple sugars. This group became obese and showed all the signs associated with metabolic syndrome: elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood levels of insulin and glucose, and a fatty liver.

The second group were fed the exact same diet with added Nobiletin. They experienced no elevation in their levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin or glucose, and gained weight normally. They also became much more sensitive to the effects of insulin. Nobiletin was shown to prevent the buildup of fat in the liver by stimulating the expression of genes involved in burning excess fat, and inhibiting the genes responsible for manufacturing fat.

“The Nobiletin-treated mice were basically protected from obesity,” says Huff, the Director of the Vascular Biology Research Group at Robarts. “And in longer-term studies, Nobiletin also protected these animals from atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke”.

A few years back another piece of important research was showing a flavonoid in grapefruit called Naringenin offered similar protection against obesity and other signs of metabolic syndrome. “However Nobiletin is ten times more potent in it’s protective effects as compared to Naringenin and this time we’ve also shown Nobiletin has the ability to protect against atherosclerosis”, Huff said.

Get Nobiletin by Juicing Tangerines

How do you get more Nobiletin into your diet?  Juice your tangerines with the Jay Kordich PowerGrind Pro juicer. The flavonoids from the white are released into the juice from the tangerine and you receive the benefits of this important flavonoid into your body on a daily basis.

Here’s Jay making Tangerine Juice