Addressing Metabolic Syndrome

Multi-functional nutritional ingredients may stop the progression of metabolic syndrome

In addition, CLA may work to synergistically enhance the effect of other treatments for metabolic syndrome. Researchers from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, examined the effect of the antihypertensive drug, telmisartan, with CLA in a 20- week rat study.⁵⁰ Co-administration of the drug and nutraceutical resulted in significant reductions in body weight, visceral fat, total cholesterol, triglycerides, plasma insulin concentrations and systolic blood pressure, compared to the control group.

Around the globe and throughout history, traditional healers have turned to the power of botanicals and plants used naturally in the diet to help treat the conflux of issues seen in metabolic syndrome. Consider the role of soy in Asian cultures, serving as the primary source of protein and delivering its host of phytonutrients. Studies have shown greater intake of soy may reduce the risk of diabetes; data from the Shanghai Women’s Health Study found a 50-percent reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes when comparing the highest versus lowest quintiles of soybean intake.⁵¹ Research from the same cohort also found a clear dose-response relationship between soyfood intake and risk of coronary heart disease,⁵² and an inverse relationship between soyfood intake and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.⁵³ Interestingly, the study also showed a significant association between abdominal adiposity and mortality risk from CVD and diabetes.⁵⁴

Intervention studies have also shown benefits of including soy in the diet. Researchers at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, randomized 42 postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome to consume a control diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [DASH]), a soy diet (replacing one serving of red meat per day in the DASH diet with soy protein) and soy nut diet (replacing one serving of red meat per day in the DASH diet with soy nuts).⁵⁵ Soy nut consumption reduced inflammatory markers and increased nitric oxide levels, improving endothelial function. Further analysis of the data revealed soy nut consumption also improved glycemic control and lipid profiles more than the control or soy protein diet.⁵⁶

Chinese researchers conducted an intervention with 30 obese adults and found those who consumed a hypocaloric diet with only soy protein (compared to 1/3 soy and 2/3 animal protein) had greater reductions in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, as well as greater effects on body fat percentages.⁵⁷ Researchers from the Functional Medicine Research Center, Gig Harbor, Wash., randomly assigned 59 postmenopausal overweight/obese women to the AHA Step 1 diet or a low-glycemic diet delivering 30 g/d of soy protein.⁵⁸ Women on the low-glycemic/soy diet had significantly significant decreases in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol.

An important part of the Asian diet is green tea, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, while also positively impacting atherosclerosis, hypertension and obesity.⁵⁹ Boston University researchers note green tea’s flavonoids appear to positively impact endothelial function, reducing cardiovascular risk.⁶⁰ In addition, green tea polyphenols are able to decrease lipid peroxidation and prevent the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines.⁶¹

Of particular interest to researchers has been green tea’s most bioactive flavonoid, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Italian researchers conducted an experiment in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) to examine the effects of EGCG on cardiovascular and metabolic function.⁶² EGCG stimulated production of nitric oxide from the endothelium, improving vasodilation and lowering systolic blood pressure while also benefiting insulin sensitivity. In vitro work from the University of Dundee, Scotland, reported EGCG exerted insulin-mimetic effects, in part by phosphorylation of transcription factors.⁶³ And researchers from the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, N.C., report in isolated hepatocytes that EGCG can inhibit glucose production via gluconeogenesis.⁶⁴

Researchers have also cited EGCG for its ability to reduce adipocyte proliferation, while increasing beta-oxidation and thermogenesis.⁶⁵ In a pilot study conducted at Universitary Medicine Berlin, six overweight men given 300 mg/d EGCG had increased fat oxidation in adipose tissue mass.⁶⁶ Thai researchers reported similar findings in their trial involving 60 obese men, in which green tea increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation.⁶⁷ A trial in 76 over weight women, conducted at Maastricht University, Netherlands, also found providing 270 mg/d EGCG plus 150 mg/d caffeine increased weight loss through thermogenesis and fat oxidation and with suppressed leptin.⁶⁸

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