Study Findings, Diet Flavanol Can Help Lose Body Fat

Illustration of a study on food that loses weight (Unsplash/Celina Albertz)

JAKARTA – Various kinds of diets or adjusting eating patterns and menus are believed to be beneficial for maintaining health. In addition to a healthy body, diet is also done to control weight.

Being overweight or obese, medically speaking, increases the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cardiovascular disease. What is the most appropriate diet to lose and control weight?

Reported by Medical News Today, Wednesday, January 19, a study shows that foods rich in flavanols have the potential to significantly improve health. Flavanols known as flavan-3-ols are found in cocoa, apples, red wine, and some other foods.

Flavanol compounds, according to research conducted on mice, may have the potential to be a drug for diseases related to cardiovascular and obesity. Flavanols, in other studies have also been shown to be antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, cardiopreventive, antimicrobial, anti-viral, and neuroprotective.

Illustration of foods that help you lose weight (iStockphoto)

Recently, researchers from Japan began to explore the benefits of flavanol content. Adipose tissue, or body fat, is an important organ in maintaining the body's energy hemostasis. The body contains white and brown adipose tissue. While white adipose tissue acts as a store of energy and brown adipose tissue is important in maintaining body temperature.

Researcher Naomi Osakabe, professor at the Graduate School of Engineering and Science at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, said that consumption of foods rich in flavone 3-ols reduces the risk of obesity and its complications including preventing heart disease. However, in one condition, flavanol is not maximally absorbed by the digestive tract.

The researchers established an experimental hypothesis of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity that apparently affects elevated catecholamine (CA) levels. Catecholamines, such as dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, are released by the SNS during stressful events that affect the fight-or-flight response.

The study found that a single dose of FL in the test group resulted in a significant increase in CA levels over 24 hours. In the second experiment, the team found brown adipose tissue changes developed in white adipose tissue. This means that after 14 days of feeding flavanols from cocoa to mice, the fat stored in the body is processed to regulate temperature.

These findings are potentially positive for heart treatment and weight loss. Although Professor Osakabe suggested conducting a more thorough and long-term study to see the risk-reducing effect of flavan-3-ols on cardiovascular disease.