Nutraceuticals and

Weight Management
• Obesity and being overweight are signifi cant
risks to health for adults and children
• Both overweight and obesity are estimated by
calculation of the body mass index (BMI)
• BMI is the ratio of weight to height and
represents the degree of body fatness
• Obesity is not only a major health problem, it also
causes concern for individuals for cosmetic
reasons, and the enormous variety of dieting
supplements and popularity of weight loss clubs
show how weight loss has become a multimillion
pound industry.
• In the USA, the number one health issue (as
reported by 40% of the population) is the need to
lose weight for reasons of appearance.
 HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF
OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY
• (1) premature death, because obese individuals have a
greater than 50% risk of death than do those of a
healthy weight;
• (2) risks of heart disease, including congestive heart
failure, angina, sudden cardiac death, and abnormal
heart rhythm are increased for individuals whose BMI is
above 25
• (3) increased risk of certain cancers, including
endometrial, colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney, and
breast;
• (4) sleep apnea;
• (5) arthritis;
• (6) reproductive complications.
• More than 80% of the people with type 2 DM are overweight
or obese.
• Other health consequences include gall bladder disease,
incontinence, increased surgical risk, and depression.
• In children and adolescents, social stigma and depression can
also occur
• Overweight children and adolescents are likely to be at risk
for hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and type 2 DM.
• Type 2 DM is on the
• rise in children and adolescents and, as in adults, has been
linked to overweight and obesity.
• Overweight children are likely to become overweight adults.
 PREVALENCE OF OBESITY
• According to data from the most recent National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the
National Center for Health Statistics found that, in
adults aged 20−74 years, the prevalence of
obesity increased from 15% in 1976−1980 to 34%
in 2005−2006.
• Among children and adolescents, ages 2−19
years, the prevalence of obesity in 2005−2006
was 16%.
• As in the United States, the prevalence of obesity
is growing worldwide
 PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
• Treatment, historically, has focused on reliance
on a number of different kinds of diets, including
very low-calorie diets, low-calorie diets, diet and
exercise programs, pharmaceuticals, surgery, and
behavior modifi cation programs [Bray 1998].
• Nutraceuticals and functional foods are receiving
considerable interest for their role in improving
health status, including weight problems and fat
distribution.
• Nutraceuticals may be naturally occurring or
added as supplements.
 Chromium
• Trivalent chromium is an essential nutrient,
needed for carbohydrate and fat metabolism,
that is found in numerous food sources, including
beef, liver, eggs, chicken, apples, bananas, and
spinach.
• Despite the widespread availability of chromium
in the food supply, Preuss and Anderson [1998]
and Anderson [1997] suggest that the majority of
people consume less than adequate chromium.
• Chromium supplementation improves insulin
• function in diabetics and has been investigated
for reduction in body fat and for retention of lean
body mass.
• Novel chromium complexes, chromium
picolinate, and niacin bound chromium (NBC),
have been investigated for their effects on body
weight and body fat distribution.
• NBC has been shown to be efficacious in
improving body composition and weight status in
overweight and obese subjects when combined
with a reduced calorie diet and exercise regimen
• A meta-analysis of 10 studies of chromium
picolinate on weight loss in overweight to
obese subjects found that, with energy
restriction of 3,300 kJ (788 kcal),the amount of
weight lost was 1.5–2.5 kg (3.3−5.5 lb)/week,
and, at more moderate energy restriction,
5,000 kJ (1194 kcal)/day, the amount of
weight reduction was 0.5−0.6 kg
 Conjugated Linoleic Acid
• CLA is a family of isomers of linoleic acid, each having
different functions
• As an antiobesity agent, CLA is believed to act by
decreasing food and energy intakes, decreasing
lipogenesis, and increasing fat oxidation, lipolysis, and
energy expenditure.
• They are found in dairy products associated with the
fat fraction and in ruminant animals, such as beef and
lamb.
• Gaullier et al. [2007] reported that CLA was found to be
effective in reducing fat mass in the abdomen and legs
of overweight and obese women
 Calcium
• This essential mineral is needed for many
functions, including bone formation and integrity,
blood clotting, muscle contraction, transmission
of nerve impulses, and the action of several
enzymes.
• Numerous reports from animal and human
studies regarding effects of calcium
supplementation from dairy products and from
calcium supplements have been inconsistent.
• Women who used supplements gained less
weight than those who did not. There were no
signifi cant differences in men.
• Zemel [2007] has reported that isocaloric substitution
of three daily servings of dairy products in humans
produced an increase in lipolysis.
• it has been demonstrated that a high-calcium diet fed
to rats and to mice stimulated a signifi cant increase in
fecal fat and energy excretion.
• A greater antiobesity effect of high-calcium diets was
observed in obese mice fed a high-fat diet than in
those fed a low-fat diet
• Dairy calcium sources have been shown to be more
effective in controlling fat accumulation than
supplemental sources of calcium.
• Zemel suggested, also, that other bioactive
components of dairy products may act
independently or synergistically to reduce fat
by reducing lipogenesis and increasing
lipolysis and lipid oxidation
 Phytoestrogens
• Soy protein is a source of isofl avone, a
phytoestrogen
• Aubertin-Leheudre et al. [2007], in recognition of
the many beneficial health effects of the
phytoestrogens, conducted a study to investigate
whether isoflavone supplementation could affect
fat free mass.
• They found that supplementation of
postmenopausal, obese women with 70 mg/day
isoflavone for six months did significantly
increase fat-free mass.
• This effect is significant because of the
relationship of metabolic rate to fat free mass.
• Soy protein has been reported to reduce body
weight and fat mass in both animals and
humans
 Medium-Chain Triglycerides
• Medium-chain fatty acids have been used
therapeutically since the 1950s for treatment
of malabsorption syndromes.
• Medium-chain fatty acids, lauric acid, and
capric acid are components of coconut oil,
palm oil, and milk.
• Lauric acid is a component of breast milk.
• Several studies in the early 1980s found that
experimental animals fed medium-chain triglycerides
(MCTs) had thermogenesis and gained less body weight
than those fed long-chain triglycerides (LCTs)
• a study was conducted to determine whether
metabolic rate could be increased more by a single
meal of MCTs than by a single meal of LCTs in adult
men.
• The results indicated that oxygen consumption after
the MCT meal increased more than after the LCT meal.
• Both animal studies and human studies have
shown that MCTs stimulate more diet-induced
thermogenesis than LCTs, thus leading to less
body fat.
• This may occur because medium-chain fatty
acids are not stored, are oxidized for energy
production, raise the body temperature, and
use more energy
 L-Carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine
• L-Carnitine is an endogenous product found in
the kidneys and liver that can also be obtained by
intake of dairy products and red meat in the diet.
• It is a co-factor in the process of fat oxidation for
cellular energy production
• Fat oxidation in muscle tissue is reduced in
obesity due to a reduction of L-carnitine-
mediated enzyme activity
• It is for this reason that carnitine is purported to
be of benefit in obese people by increasingfat
oxidation,13 and explains why it is often
promoted as a ‘fat burner’.
• L-Carnitine was shown to drastically reduce body
fat in a study of basketball players, although it did
not cause a significant fall in overall body mass
• A cohort of 12 basketball players were
supplemented with L-carnitine for eight weeks
and compared with a control group. In the
supplemented group there were significant
improvements in speed, jumping ability and VO2
max (maximal oxygen uptake), and an average
21% fall in body fat.
• However, there was no significant difference in
overall reduction of body mass between the two
groups.
• Acetyl-L-carnitine has similar roles to L-carnitine,
and is used by athletes as a metabolic source of L-
carnitine.
• It is synthesised by mitochondria and found in the
brain, kidney and liver
• Claims have been made that supplementation
with acetyl-L-cartinine can increase energy and
help weight loss
• Acetyl-L-carnitine is capable of restoring
mitochondrial energy production, so it is believed
to increase general metabolic activity as well.
• It is for these reasons that acetyl-L-carnitine is
purported to increase ambulatory activity and
increase metabolism, although animal studies
show mixed results, with one study showing
an improvement in metabolic function of rats
supplemented with acetyl-Lcarnitine, and
another study showing that acetyl-L-carnitine
prevented weight loss in rats.
 Dehydroepiandrosterone
• DHEA is an adrenal hormone found naturally in
the body.
• Blood levels of DHEA in humans peak at around
the age of 20, and decrease rapidly after 25 years
of age.
• DHEA plays a role in receptor and enzyme
adaptations that are thought to favour increased
fat oxidation and decreased fat deposition
• Administration of DHEA to rats has led to a
decrease in their visceral fat accumulation, and
also resulted in a lower increase of body fat with
advancing age
• For human consumption DHEA is only available
on prescription in the UK, but is widely available
for sale on the Internet. It is marketed as a
‘thermogenic’ compound with the ability to burn
fat and also to help maintain fat loss
• A study of the effects of DHEA in humans
concluded that compared with a placebo, DHEA
induced significant decreases in abdominal fat in
elderly men and women
• In a randomised, doubleblind, placebo controlled six-month
trial of men and women over 65 years, a daily dose of 50 mg
DHEA reduced visceral and subcutaneous fat significantly.
• The volunteers in this study were included if their weight had
been stable for the previous year.
• During the study volunteers were asked not to alter their
usual diet or activity levels.
• No significant adverse effects were reported with the DHEA
supplements.
• It was suggested that DHEA acts as a peroxisome proliferator-
activated receptor (PPAR) agonist, which have been shown to
reduce fat stores in muscle and reduce obesity.
• DHEA also increased the concentration of circulating insulin-
like growth factor I (IGF-I) within the body, which has been
shown in previous studies to reduce abdominal fat.
 Green tea
• Green tea contains catechin polyphenols, which
have been shown to inhibit catechol-O-
methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme
responsible for the degradation of noradrenaline,
which itself has an important role in the control
of thermogenesis and fat metabolism
• Tea catechins have been shown to cause loss of
appetite, which might involve neuropeptides
other than leptins epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)
is effective in reducing the body weight of both
lean and obese (leptin receptor-negative) rats.
• A small study of ten male adults indicated that
green tea extract significantly increased 24-hour
energy expenditure, measured by indirect
calorimetry while in a respiratory chamber
• This was a crossover study in which the ten
volunteers were assigned one of three
treatments (a placebo, green tea extract or the
equivalent amount of caffeine to that in the
green tea extract) on three occasions
• Treatment with the placebo or the caffeine did not
have any significant effects on energy expenditure.
• Green tea extract has good potential to influence body
weight and body composition due to its promotion of
fat oxidation and thermogenic properties.
• An important observation of the study was that there
was no increase in heart rate, as is seen with other
substances that increase energy expenditure such as
ephedrine and other sympathomimetic drugs.
• This means that the risk of adverse cardiovascular
effects is greatly reduced.
• Green tea supplement was only effective when
habitual caffeine intake was low (or that a much
increased dose was needed if caffeine intake was
high).
• Green tea could be incorporated into an everyday
Western lifestyle without necessitating the
trouble of buying and taking tablets and capsules
• However, some people may be unable to palate
the astringent taste of green tea, in which case
supplements may be preferred.
Thank you….