Effects of spirulina and wakame consumption on intestinal cholesterol absorption and serum lipid concentrations in non-hypercholesterolemic adult men and women.

Purpose: Consumption of the algae spirulina (Arthrospira platensis or maxima) and wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol concentrations in animals and humans, possibly due to the inhibition of intestinal cholesterol absorption. This mechanism, however, has never been investigated in humans. Therefore, we examined in non-hypercholesterolemic men and women the effects of spirulina and wakame consumption on serum markers for intestinal cholesterol absorption.

A Single Dose of Goji Berries Does Not Affect Postprandial Energy Expenditure and Substrate Oxidation in Healthy, Overweight Men.

Background And Aim: Increasing energy expenditure is an effective strategy for the prevention of obesity. In this respect, (goji berry) is of interest, as it has been shown to increase postprandial oxygen consumption. Although this suggests that energy expenditure was also increased, energy expenditure and substrate oxidation can only be assessed accurately when both oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production are measured.

Effects of superfoods on risk factors of metabolic syndrome: a systematic review of human intervention trials.

Functional foods can be effective in the prevention of metabolic syndrome and subsequently the onset of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes mellitus. More recently, however, another term was introduced to describe foods with additional health benefits: "superfoods", for which, to date, no generally accepted definition exists. Nonetheless, their consumption might contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, for example due to the presence of potentially bioactive compounds.

Theobromine consumption does not improve fasting and postprandial vascular function in overweight and obese subjects.

Backgound: Theobromine, a component of cocoa, may favorably affect conventional lipid-related cardiovascular risk markers, but effects on flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and other vascular function markers are not known.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of 4-week theobromine consumption (500 mg/day) on fasting and postprandial vascular function markers.

Design: In a randomized, double-blind crossover study, 44 apparently healthy overweight (N = 30) and obese (N = 14) men and women with low HDL-C concentrations, consumed daily 500 mg theobromine or placebo for 4 weeks.

Short-term cold acclimation improves insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Cold exposure may be a potential therapy for diabetes by increasing brown adipose tissue (BAT) mass and activity. Here we report that 10 d of cold acclimation (14-15 °C) increased peripheral insulin sensitivity by ∼43% in eight type 2 diabetes subjects. Basal skeletal muscle GLUT4 translocation markedly increased, without effects on insulin signaling or AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and only a minor increase in BAT glucose uptake.