Olive Compound Aids Weight Loss and Regulates Blood Sugar
A natural compound found in olives has been discovered to reduce blood sugar levels and accelerate weight loss quickly, similar to the effects of drugs like liraglutide and metformin used for diabetes.
This discovery could pave the way for developing safe, natural, and affordable treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
“Current lifestyle changes and public health efforts have had limited success in addressing the increasing prevalence of obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes,” explained Dongmin Liu, a professor at Virginia Tech leading the research.
Development of Safer, Affordable Multi-Targeting Agents Amid Challenges with Current Obesity Medications
“Existing obesity medications are ineffective in sustaining weight loss, costly, and may pose long-term safety concerns. Our aim was to create safer, less expensive, and more convenient multi-targeting agents to prevent metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes.”
Researchers at Virginia Tech sought to influence metabolic function by targeting gut hormone secretion, focusing on natural compounds impacting L-cells, which release glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY)—key hormones in hunger, metabolism, and blood sugar regulation.
In fact, their discovery highlighted that elenolic acid, sourced from olives, stimulated GLP-1 and PYY secretion in the gut. This led to reduced food intake and lowered expression of agouti-related peptide (agRP) in the hypothalamus, associated with overeating and weight gain.
“Overall, our study demonstrates that elenolic acid holds promise for enhancing hormone release and improving metabolic health, particularly in conditions like obesity and diabetes,” said Liu. “The compound mimics natural eating conditions, promoting the secretion of gut metabolic hormones to regulate energy balance and metabolic function.”
In Obese, Diabetic Mice
In obese, diabetic mice, a week of oral elenolic acid treatment resulted in weight loss and improved glucose regulation compared to untreated mice. Over 4-5 weeks, treated mice showed a mean 10.7% reduction in body weight, achieving blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity akin to healthy, lean mice.
While conducted in mice, researchers are hopeful for similar benefits in human trials.
However, elenolic acid, a derivative of the polyphenol oleuropein, has traditionally served as an antioxidant supplement, supporting immune function and combating free radicals.
While naturally occurring in olive oil and mature olives, its concentration in these sources is likely insufficient to provide metabolic benefits, prompting researchers to extract the acid from existing oleuropein products.
Moving forward, the team will investigate its absorption and metabolism in the digestive system, laying the groundwork for human trials.
To conclude, presented at NUTRITION 2024, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, these findings stem from research published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
Read the original article on: New Atlas
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