Bruin
zeewier tegen overgewicht.*
De Japanse professor Kazuo Miyashita, van de faculteit Viswetenschappen van de Hokkaido Univeristeit, zegt zeker te weten dat bruin zeewier een geweldige vetverbrander is. Miyashita probeerde een door hem ontwikkeld zeewierdieet uit op muizen en zag hoe de diertjes vijf tot tien procent van hun gewicht kwijt raakten. De wetenschappelijke onderbouwing voor het gewichtsverlies is als volgt. Het bruine pigment van het zeewier stimuleert een proteïne die er weervoor zorgt dat vet wordt omgezet in energie.
Fight
Abdominal Fat with Brown Seaweed
-- Brown seaweed could fight fat and weight
gain. A pigment found in brown seaweed, called fucoxanthin, reduces dangerous
abdominal fat and cholesterol, according to a new study funded by the Japanese
government.
Over 200 lab rats were fed Undaria
pinnatifida, a brown kelp commonly consumed in Japan. The seaweed contains the
pigment fucoxanthin, which conducts photosynthesis and gives brown seaweed its
color. Test animals experienced a 5- to 10-percent weight loss. Study leader
Kazuo Miyashita, Ph.D., of Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, Japan, says the
pigment appears to combat fat in two different ways.
The compound stimulates a protein called
UCP1 that causes fat oxidation and converts energy to heat. UCP1 is found in the
fat surrounding internal organs. Extra fat around the internal organs elevates
risk for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Researchers say the compound also
stimulates the liver to produce an Omega-3 fatty acid called DHA. High levels of
DHA can reduce bad cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein, which is shown to
contribute to heart disease and obesity.
Dr. Miyashita warns that eating lots of
seaweed is not an efficient way to lose weight. Fucoxanthin is not easily
absorbed from whole seaweed, so a person would need to consume large quantities
of seaweed each day to lose weight. Researchers must determine how to extract
fucoxanthin from seaweed for drug development. It could take three to five years
to make such a drug available to consumers.
Human studies on the fat-fighting effects
of fucoxanthin are planned.
SOURCE: 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, Sept. 10-14, 2006
(Sept. 2006)