Oranges and lemons can help STOP diseases caused by obesity including diabetes

Oranges and lemons can help STOP diseases caused by obesity including diabetes

ORANGES and lemons not only pack a vitamin C punch to keep a cold at bay, they can hep prevent obesity-related heart disease, liver disease and diabetes.

By KATRINA TURRILL

PUBLISHED: 14:04, Sun, Aug 21, 2016 | UPDATED: 14:14, Sun, Aug 21, 2016

Are citrus fruits the answer to stopping diseases caused by obesity?

Citrus fruits can counteract the harmful effects of obesity caused by a western diet high in fat and sugar.

The fruits not only have plenty of vitamins but antioxidants that prevent diseases caused by obesity.

While they do not prevent obesity, people who enjoy a high fat diet but are not yet obese could also benefit by preventing diseases linked to the food they eat.

One in four British adults and one in five children aged 11 are obese making the UK the “fat man of Europe”.

Graduate student Paula Ferreira said: “Our results indicate that in the future we can use citrus flavanones, a class of antioxidants, to prevent or delay chronic diseases caused by obesity in humans.

“This study also suggests that consuming citrus fruits probably could have beneficial effects for people who are not obese, but have diets rich in fats, putting them at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity.”

The study by Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil suggested obesity increases the risk of of developing heart disease, liver disease and diabetes because of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Eating a high-fat diet causes the fat to accumulate fat in their bodies and these fat cells produce excessive reactive oxygen species, which can damage cells in a process called oxidative stress.

The body can usually fight off the molecules with antioxidants but the obese have very enlarged fat cells, which can lead to even higher levels of reactive oxygen species that overwhelm the body’s ability to counteract them.

Previous research suggested flavanone lowered oxidative stress cell cultures and in animals.

The study set out to explore the effects of flavanone for the first time on mice with no genetic modifications and that were fed a high-fat diet.

Citrus fruits could also help prevent obesity-related heart disease

It involved 50 mice, treating them with three flavanone found in oranges, limes and lemons – hesperidia, a high-fat diet plus eriocitrin or a high-fat diet plus eriodictyol.

The high-fat diet without the flavanone increased the levels of cell-damage markers called thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) by 80 per cent in the blood and 57 per cent in the liver compared to mice on a standard diet.

But hesperidia, eiocitrin and eriodictyol decreased the TBARS levels in the liver by 50 per cent, 57 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively, compared with mice fed a high-fat diet but not given flavanones.

Eriocitrin and eriodictyol also reduced TBARS levels in the blood by 48 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively in these mice.

In addition, mice treated with hesperidin and eriodictyol had reduced fat accumulation and damage in the liver.

Fruits with HIGH sugar levels:

Here is a list of fruit which has a high sugar content

Cherries have high sugar levels in comparison to other berries

Cherries have high sugar levels

Tangerines are the highest in sugar of the citrus family pomegranate

Mangoes are unusually sweet due to hot climates

Dried fruit has the highest sugar content of the fruit family

Bananas are high in sugar giving energy

Grapes are also high in glucose

Figs are high in sugar due to hot weather and sunshine

Research has been carried out on mice

Lead author professor Dr Thais Cesar said: “Our studies did not show any weight loss due to the citrus flavanones.

“However, even without helping the mice lose weight, they made them healthier with lower oxidative stress, less liver damage, lower blood lipids and lower blood glucose.”

Further research will look at how best to administer these flavanone, whether in citrus juice, by consuming the fruit or developing a pill with these antioxidants.

Human clinical trials are also planned.