Archive for August 2013

Glycomacropeptides for Weight Management

Glycomacropeptides (GMPs) are a typical component of whey protein. It now appears that the GMPs themselves, as distinct from the grams of protein, have distinct weight loss properties.

It is quite clear that whey protein, as compared to similar amounts of other proteins, is a highly superior food for weight management. This has been demonstrated in a number of human studies.

Its ability to help weight loss is partly due to the quality of the protein, ease of absorption, and high leucine content that helps correct insulin and blood sugar issues. Additionally, researchers have been looking into the biological activity of various other components of whey for their potential role as regulators of metabolism – factors that do not exist in most other protein sources.

One of these factors is the GMPs, which have known anti-inflammatory and immune-support regulatory properties. Most research on GMPs has focused on digestive health. We now know that stubborn weight issues are heavily influenced by inflammatory problems within white adipose tissue. A Chinese research group is exploring the relationship between GMPs and white adipose tissue health.

Their first study involved baby fat cells, seeking to determine if exposing them to GMPs influenced their behavior. They found that GMPs inhibited the rate at which baby fat cells became adult fat cells. Furthermore, GMPs reduced the amount of fat taken up by fat cells. Since overweight people have too many baby fat cells becoming adults too quickly and excessively filling up with fat, these initial cell results were encouraging.

In their most recent study they induced obesity in rats with a high fat diet. Some rats were fed various amounts of GMP along with the high fat diet over an 8-week period. The rats fed GMP had significantly less white adipose tissue weight gain. Their livers did not become fatty. They had lower levels of leptin (preventing leptin resistance). They had lower cholesterol and triglycerides. They had lower levels of free radical damage in the mitochondria of cells and the liver, as well as boosted antioxidant enzyme function. And they had lower levels of key inflammatory signals coming from fat (TNFa and IL6), which are the hallmark of sickly fat.

The number of anti-obesity benefits the researchers documented is stunning. They are consistent with findings of many human studies on whey protein in the weight loss context. It is quite likely that part of the weight loss benefit of whey protein has to do with metabolic regulation coming from the GMPs. It also tells us that there is more to food than the fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. Certain foods, such as whey protein, appear to be a metabolic powerhouse.

Glycomacropeptides for Weight Management

Glycomacropeptides (GMPs) are a typical component of whey protein. It now appears that the GMPs themselves, as distinct from the grams of protein, have distinct weight loss properties.

It is quite clear that whey protein, as compared to similar amounts of other proteins, is a highly superior food for weight management. This has been demonstrated in a number of human studies.

Its ability to help weight loss is partly due to the quality of the protein, ease of absorption, and high leucine content that helps correct insulin and blood sugar issues. Additionally, researchers have been looking into the biological activity of various other components of whey for their potential role as regulators of metabolism – factors that do not exist in most other protein sources.

One of these factors is the GMPs, which have known anti-inflammatory and immune-support regulatory properties. Most research on GMPs has focused on digestive health. We now know that stubborn weight issues are heavily influenced by inflammatory problems within white adipose tissue. A Chinese research group is exploring the relationship between GMPs and white adipose tissue health.

Their first study involved baby fat cells, seeking to determine if exposing them to GMPs influenced their behavior. They found that GMPs inhibited the rate at which baby fat cells became adult fat cells. Furthermore, GMPs reduced the amount of fat taken up by fat cells. Since overweight people have too many baby fat cells becoming adults too quickly and excessively filling up with fat, these initial cell results were encouraging.

In their most recent study they induced obesity in rats with a high fat diet. Some rats were fed various amounts of GMP along with the high fat diet over an 8-week period. The rats fed GMP had significantly less white adipose tissue weight gain. Their livers did not become fatty. They had lower levels of leptin (preventing leptin resistance). They had lower cholesterol and triglycerides. They had lower levels of free radical damage in the mitochondria of cells and the liver, as well as boosted antioxidant enzyme function. And they had lower levels of key inflammatory signals coming from fat (TNFa and IL6), which are the hallmark of sickly fat.

The number of anti-obesity benefits the researchers documented is stunning. They are consistent with findings of many human studies on whey protein in the weight loss context. It is quite likely that part of the weight loss benefit of whey protein has to do with metabolic regulation coming from the GMPs. It also tells us that there is more to food than the fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. Certain foods, such as whey protein, appear to be a metabolic powerhouse.

Glycomacropeptides for Weight Management

Glycomacropeptides (GMPs) are a typical component of whey protein.  It now appears that the GMPs themselves, as distinct from the grams of protein, have distinct weight loss properties.

It is quite clear that whey protein, as compared to similar amounts of other proteins, is a highly superior food for weight management.  This has been demonstrated in a number of human studies.

Its ability to help weight loss is partly due to the quality of the protein, ease of absorption, and high leucine content that helps correct insulin and blood sugar issues.  Additionally, researchers have been looking into the biological activity of various other components of whey for their potential role as regulators of metabolism – factors that do not exist in most other protein sources.

One of these factors is the GMPs, which have known anti-inflammatory and immune-support regulatory properties.  Most research on GMPs has focused on digestive health.  We now know that stubborn weight issues are heavily influenced by inflammatory problems within white adipose tissue.  A Chinese research group is exploring the relationship between GMPs and white adipose tissue health.

Their first study involved baby fat cells, seeking to determine if exposing them to GMPs influenced their behavior.  They found that GMPs inhibited the rate at which baby fat cells became adult fat cells.  Furthermore, GMPs reduced the amount of fat taken up by fat cells.  Since overweight people have too many baby fat cells becoming adults too quickly and excessively filling up with fat, these initial cell results were encouraging.

In their most recent study they induced obesity in rats with a high fat diet.  Some rats were fed various amounts of GMP along with the high fat diet over an 8-week period.  The rats fed GMP had significantly less white adipose tissue weight gain.  Their livers did not become fatty.  They had lower levels of leptin (preventing leptin resistance).  They had lower cholesterol and triglycerides.  They had lower levels of free radical damage in the mitochondria of cells and the liver, as well as boosted antioxidant enzyme function.  And they had lower levels of key inflammatory signals coming from fat (TNFa and IL6), which are the hallmark of sickly fat.

The number of anti-obesity benefits the researchers documented is stunning.  They are consistent with findings of many human studies on whey protein in the weight loss context.  It is quite likely that part of the weight loss benefit of whey protein has to do with metabolic regulation coming from the GMPs.  It also tells us that there is more to food than the fat, carbohydrate, and protein content.  Certain foods, such as whey protein, appear to be a metabolic powerhouse.

A Multi-Strain Friendly Flora Helps Diabetic Patients

Many metabolic problems are adversely influenced by what is going on in the digestive tract. Adverse bacterial and Candida populations produce toxic byproducts and phantom metabolic signals that interfere with healthy metabolic function throughout the body. A new study shows that a multi-strain probiotic supplement helps improve the blood sugar metabolism in diabetic individuals.

Participants consumed a multi-strain probiotic daily for 8 weeks. The probiotic prevented blood sugar from rising during the study period, whereas it went up 28 percent in the control group. The C-reactive protein (CRP) marker of inflammation had decreased in the probiotic group and increased in the control group. The probiotic group also had elevated blood levels of the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione, indicating a better ability to tolerate stress within the circulation.

This study demonstrates that digestive health is an important factor to consider when looking into blood sugar metabolism. Clearly there is a link between poor digestive health and impaired blood sugar metabolism. It is not the only issue, but it is an important issue.

A person has a variety of strategies that can be employed to improve digestive health, one of which is taking a high quality multi-strain acidophilus product. Improvement in digestive health minimally helps remove stress from metabolic processes and may play a large role in helping to fix them (which will vary from person to person).

One word of caution – blood sugar medications have no intelligence in their sledgehammer approach to influencing metabolism. If a person is taking such medications then improving their metabolism by natural means may result in their dose of blood sugar medication being too high, which can cause hypoglycemia. I do know of one person on such medications who had a bout of low blood sugar following taking a multi-strain probiotic. Of course, a person should work with their health professional to adjust any medication dose. People who are taking blood sugar medication and improving their metabolism in any way, which includes many types of dietary supplements, need to be cognizant that their medication dose may need adjustment to accommodate improvement in their health.

A Multi-Strain Friendly Flora Helps Diabetic Patients

Many metabolic problems are adversely influenced by what is going on in the digestive tract. Adverse bacterial and Candida populations produce toxic byproducts and phantom metabolic signals that interfere with healthy metabolic function throughout the body. A new study shows that a multi-strain probiotic supplement helps improve the blood sugar metabolism in diabetic individuals.

Participants consumed a multi-strain probiotic daily for 8 weeks. The probiotic prevented blood sugar from rising during the study period, whereas it went up 28 percent in the control group. The C-reactive protein (CRP) marker of inflammation had decreased in the probiotic group and increased in the control group. The probiotic group also had elevated blood levels of the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione, indicating a better ability to tolerate stress within the circulation.

This study demonstrates that digestive health is an important factor to consider when looking into blood sugar metabolism. Clearly there is a link between poor digestive health and impaired blood sugar metabolism. It is not the only issue, but it is an important issue.

A person has a variety of strategies that can be employed to improve digestive health, one of which is taking a high quality multi-strain acidophilus product. Improvement in digestive health minimally helps remove stress from metabolic processes and may play a large role in helping to fix them (which will vary from person to person).

One word of caution – blood sugar medications have no intelligence in their sledgehammer approach to influencing metabolism. If a person is taking such medications then improving their metabolism by natural means may result in their dose of blood sugar medication being too high, which can cause hypoglycemia. I do know of one person on such medications who had a bout of low blood sugar following taking a multi-strain probiotic. Of course, a person should work with their health professional to adjust any medication dose. People who are taking blood sugar medication and improving their metabolism in any way, which includes many types of dietary supplements, need to be cognizant that their medication dose may need adjustment to accommodate improvement in their health.

A Multi-Strain Friendly Flora Helps Diabetic Patients

Many metabolic problems are adversely influenced by what is going on in the digestive tract. Adverse bacterial and Candida populations produce toxic byproducts and phantom metabolic signals that interfere with healthy metabolic function throughout the body. A new study shows that a multi-strain probiotic supplement helps improve the blood sugar metabolism in diabetic individuals.

Participants consumed a multi-strain probiotic daily for 8 weeks. The probiotic prevented blood sugar from rising during the study period, whereas it went up 28 percent in the control group. The C-reactive protein (CRP) marker of inflammation had decreased in the probiotic group and increased in the control group. The probiotic group also had elevated blood levels of the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione, indicating a better ability to tolerate stress within the circulation.

This study demonstrates that digestive health is an important factor to consider when looking into blood sugar metabolism. Clearly there is a link between poor digestive health and impaired blood sugar metabolism. It is not the only issue, but it is an important issue.

A person has a variety of strategies that can be employed to improve digestive health, one of which is taking a high quality multi-strain acidophilus product. Improvement in digestive health minimally helps remove stress from metabolic processes and may play a large role in helping to fix them (which will vary from person to person).

One word of caution – blood sugar medications have no intelligence in their sledgehammer approach to influencing metabolism. If a person is taking such medications then improving their metabolism by natural means may result in their dose of blood sugar medication being too high, which can cause hypoglycemia. I do know of one person on such medications who had a bout of low blood sugar following taking a multi-strain probiotic. Of course, a person should work with their health professional to adjust any medication dose. People who are taking blood sugar medication and improving their metabolism in any way, which includes many types of dietary supplements, need to be cognizant that their medication dose may need adjustment to accommodate improvement in their health.

How Lactoferrin Helps Weight Loss

Several years ago I reported on a Japanese study that showed men taking 300 mg of lactoferrin per day over an 8-week period lost almost 2 inches from their waistline. The same research group has now published a second study that helps identify how lactoferrin shrinks stomach fat.

The key finding was that lactoferrin reduced a substance called perilipin. Perilipin coats droplets of fat that are stored in fat cells, preventing them from being broken down. Lactoferrin directly reduces perilipin levels, in essence helping to open the gate so that stored fat particles can flow out of fat cells.

It is not surprising that lactoferrin has this ability. This nutrient is in very high levels following birth, a time when the baby is rapidly growing. Rapid growth requires fuel, including fuel in the form of fat. By liberating fat from storage, lactoferrin ensures that the energy needs for high growth are more likely to be met.

Later in life lactoferrin levels can be compromised by poor health, especially if a person struggles with sinus, oral, or digestive health issues. It is interesting that such issues often occur in overweight people, who are known to have higher-than-normal levels of perilipin. These higher levels of perilipin will make it more difficult to break down stored fat and lose weight.

Of course, if a person eats too much food the benefit of lactoferrin will be negligible, since fat that is being broken down will simply be sent back to storage because there is no need to burn the released fat as fuel. However, if a person eats a proper amount of calories and exercises, then lactoferrin is likely to help encourage the release of stored fat that will help sustain the person’s energy level while they lose weight. 

It is certainly an option to consider for stubborn weight loss, for breaking through a weight loss plateau, or as a strategy to get rid of that last five problematic pounds.

How Lactoferrin Helps Weight Loss

Several years ago I reported on a Japanese study that showed men taking 300 mg of lactoferrin per day over an 8-week period lost almost 2 inches from their waistline. The same research group has now published a second study that helps identify how lactoferrin shrinks stomach fat.

The key finding was that lactoferrin reduced a substance called perilipin. Perilipin coats droplets of fat that are stored in fat cells, preventing them from being broken down. Lactoferrin directly reduces perilipin levels, in essence helping to open the gate so that stored fat particles can flow out of fat cells.

It is not surprising that lactoferrin has this ability. This nutrient is in very high levels following birth, a time when the baby is rapidly growing. Rapid growth requires fuel, including fuel in the form of fat. By liberating fat from storage, lactoferrin ensures that the energy needs for high growth are more likely to be met.

Later in life lactoferrin levels can be compromised by poor health, especially if a person struggles with sinus, oral, or digestive health issues. It is interesting that such issues often occur in overweight people, who are known to have higher-than-normal levels of perilipin. These higher levels of perilipin will make it more difficult to break down stored fat and lose weight.

Of course, if a person eats too much food the benefit of lactoferrin will be negligible, since fat that is being broken down will simply be sent back to storage because there is no need to burn the released fat as fuel. However, if a person eats a proper amount of calories and exercises, then lactoferrin is likely to help encourage the release of stored fat that will help sustain the person’s energy level while they lose weight. 

It is certainly an option to consider for stubborn weight loss, for breaking through a weight loss plateau, or as a strategy to get rid of that last five problematic pounds.

Do You Have Sickly Fat?

It is now widely recognized by researchers all over the world that a major part of a person’s trouble losing weight or with excessive weight gain is that their white adipose tissue is in poor health – actually rather sickly. 

Some of the common symptoms of sickly fat are trouble losing weight, easy weight gain when overeating (or in some cases eating normal meals), excess fatigue and lack of mental spark, succumbing to food cravings, mental preoccupation with food, and various aches and pains.

The hallmark of this sickly fat is the excess production of inflammatory signals which are self-amplifying, making the issue perpetually worse. Only the reduction of inflammation within the white adipose tissue offers any real hope for opening the door for improvement.

In order to understand the importance of this issue it is necessary to go beyond the traditional ideas of reducing calories and increasing exercise. Yes, such ideas are important especially if a person is eating too much and not very active. Any person that can cut back on calories, increase exercise, and lose weight to the point of getting to an optimal weight and maintaining it should thank their lucky stars that their fat had not become too sickly from the abuse they had put it through. Most people, especially as they get older, are not so lucky.

How White Adipose Tissue Works

Many people trying to lose weight think of their excess pounds of fat as a stagnant blob that is simply chipped away as weight loss occurs, or added to as weight gain occurs.

In reality, white adipose tissue is a dynamic organ that is constantly storing and releasing fat. In overweight people it is storing more than it is releasing, and the process creates inflammatory friction. The important point to grasp is that white adipose tissue is metabolically active, albeit inefficient in overweight people.

Your white adipose tissue is constantly making new fat cells and killing off old ones at a rate that you hope is reflective of health. Newer fat cells produce hormones such as leptin and adiponectin in proper amounts, while older and stressed out fat cells make excess leptin and not enough adiponectin. Most nutrients that help weight loss help manage this process, helping your body make an appropriate amount of new fat cells and helping existing fat cells work better.

Of course, the largest stress to fat cells is excess food consumption, causing them to swell excessively in size and causing far too many new fat cells to form as a type of self-defense against being poisoned by too much food. As a person cuts back on food consumption and increases activity, an environment is created wherein fat calories in storage can be released and used as fuel if the fat cells are up to the task.

The problem for fat cells is that many of them are swollen, sprained, and sickly. When fat cells are crammed full they swell in size and their structure becomes unstable. They send out an SOS message to the liver to make more cholesterol to prop up their teetering three dimensional structure. All of this panic alarms the immune cells that naturally reside in the white adipose tissue, and these immune cells elevate a message (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, MCP-1) which causes immune cells from other areas of the body to enter the white adipose tissue – an event that ramps up inflammation within adipose tissue. 

At the gene level, sickly fat has chronically elevated NF-kappaB, the core gene signal that regulates inflammation. In turn, immune cells within fat produce too much TNFa and IL6, as well as other inflammatory signals. This inflammation is self-perpetuating within the white adipose tissue due to continued excess food. The inflammation then spills out of the white adipose tissue and contributes to all manner of poor health as a form of significant stress, often contributing to aches and pains around one’s body. Any other health issue a person has is made worse by the inflammation coming from fat. And this is the nature of the downward health spiral of overweight America.

True enough, reducing calorie intake to a normal level and increasing exercise to an active level create an environment wherein weight loss might take place. If it doesn’t, it typically means that there are too many sprained and injured fat cells that simply can’t get in metabolic gear.

With nutrition you can help resolve this situation, both in the short term and long term. In the short term, nutrients that lower inflammation within white adipose tissue can help “put out the fire” as well as help relieve the sprained nature of existing fat cells. Such cells may still not run like new, but at least they can be better. In the long term, these same nutrients usually help produce new fat cells and regulate their efficiency, so that if you now don’t overeat you will gradually have a larger number of more functional fat cells. This later process can take several years or longer to reach a level reflective of dramatically better metabolism.

There are many nutrients that can help contribute to improve white adipose tissue function. Nutrients tend to work in slightly different manners, as the gene signaling involved with this process is highly complex. Thus, a variety of nutrients with known white adipose tissue metabolic benefits is desirable. How many different nutrients you employ or how high the dose of any one nutrient should be is unknown. Therefore, an appropriate amount is a level that helps you engage the process of weight loss, along with eating properly and being active.

Eating less has its limitations as within several weeks of significantly reduced calorie intake your body may begin to think it is starving and will slow down your metabolism. You may be able to get off a few pounds in this manner, but seldom will you get to a proper goal weight simply by cutting back on calories. And if you cut back too much you will be at risk for rebound weight gain, as your subconscious brain thinks it needs to recover from “starvation” by storing calories as fat.

Being more active is quite important. If you push exercise significantly you will need to eat more or you will be quite tired and more prone to injury. Being more active is also quite positive in that it can help prevent your body from thinking it is starving when eating less.

Increasing the number of supportive nutrients and/or their dose is quite safe. It is simply a matter of finding a combination and amount that help get your body out of the inflammatory rut. Using enough to engage the process of weight loss is important. If you hit a plateau you may need higher doses or other nutrients. As time goes along and your fitness improves, and you have more new metabolically active fat cells, you will need fewer nutrients. 

Be careful, many people think that their improved metabolism can now tolerate their former excess – which may be true on occasion but not as an ongoing lifestyle pattern of eating.

Nutrients that Help White Adipose Tissue

The following is a list of nutrients with known anti-inflammatory properties within white adipose tissue.

Quercetin – Quercetin is recognized as a superior nutrient for lowering inflammation within white adipose tissue by a variety of mechanisms, including lowering TNFa, NF-kappaB, IL-6, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 1000 mg – 3000 mg per day.

Quercetin guards against excess formation of new fat cells while enhancing the death rate of old fat cells. It is also a potent antioxidant within white adipose tissue and can even help improve leptin resistance. It helps insulin resistance while assisting the activation of AMPK, which leads to fat burning.

Additional references:
Quercetin for Nerves, Allergies, Immunity, and Metabolism
Quercetin Can Guard Against Metabolic Syndrome, Fatty Liver, and Abdominal Fat
Quercetin Lowers Leptin and Colon Cancer Risk

Green Tea Catechins (EGCG) – EGCG is the active compound in green tea which activates genes in fat cells that prevent excess fat accumulation. Like quercetin it also activates AMPK to boost fat burning. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg of EGCG per day (approximately 1400 mg – 4200 mg of green tea, depending on extract potency).

When immune cells of white adipose tissue are exposed to EGCG they begin to regulate normally, no longer behaving in an inflamed manner. EGCG helps nerve tone, including the activation of the calorie-disposing brown adipose tissue. Numerous human studies show that EGCG is an excellent weight management nutrient.

Additional references:
The Effects of Green Tea on Weight Management
Green Tea Can Help Your Body Shed Excess Fat
Green Tea as a Potent Weight Loss Nutrient

Curcumin – Curcumin has long been recognized as an anti-inflammatory nutrient, thus it comes as no surprise that it potently reduces inflammation in white adipose tissue. This includes reduction of NF-kappaB, TNFa, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.

Curcumin helps lower leptin resistance, boost adiponectin, and reverse insulin resistance. It also helps turn on fat burning genes.

Additional references:
Curcumin Now Touted as a Significant Weight Loss & Disease Prevention Nutrient
Turmeric (Curcumin) and Cinnamon Lower Insulin and Triglycerides

Resveratrol – Resveratrol has been found to activate the Sirt1 gene in fat cells, highly synergistic with AMPK and increased fat burning. It also helps reduce inflammation within fat cells. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.

Resveratrol helps prevent fat accumulation in fat cells, helps speed the release of fat from fat cells, helps regulate new fat cell formation, and helps clear out old fat cells.

Additional references:
Resveratrol Helps Break Down Stored Fat
Is Resveratrol the Fountain of Youth?
Resveratrol Improves Insulin Function and Longevity

DHA DHA reduces the accumulation of fat in fat cells, helps prevent fat cells from expanding in size, helps regulate the rate of new fat cell formation, reduces NF-kappaB and MCP-1, lowers leptin resistance, and boosts adiponectin. Typical weight management dose of DHA is 500 mg – 3000 mg per day, higher amounts to help more stubborn situations.

Additional references:
DHA Protects Against the Metabolic Flu of Obesity
DHA Omega 3 Fatty Acids in the War Against Obesity
How DHA Helps Inflammation and Diabetes

The above list of five nutrients is by no means a complete list. It is a list of nutrients that have the most science supporting their metabolic activity within white adipose tissue to help lower excess inflammation and promote healthier fat. This is a vitally important topic for healthy weight management.

Do You Have Sickly Fat?

It is now widely recognized by researchers all over the world that a major part of a person’s trouble losing weight or with excessive weight gain is that their white adipose tissue is in poor health – actually rather sickly. 

Some of the common symptoms of sickly fat are trouble losing weight, easy weight gain when overeating (or in some cases eating normal meals), excess fatigue and lack of mental spark, succumbing to food cravings, mental preoccupation with food, and various aches and pains.

The hallmark of this sickly fat is the excess production of inflammatory signals which are self-amplifying, making the issue perpetually worse. Only the reduction of inflammation within the white adipose tissue offers any real hope for opening the door for improvement.

In order to understand the importance of this issue it is necessary to go beyond the traditional ideas of reducing calories and increasing exercise. Yes, such ideas are important especially if a person is eating too much and not very active. Any person that can cut back on calories, increase exercise, and lose weight to the point of getting to an optimal weight and maintaining it should thank their lucky stars that their fat had not become too sickly from the abuse they had put it through. Most people, especially as they get older, are not so lucky.

How White Adipose Tissue Works

Many people trying to lose weight think of their excess pounds of fat as a stagnant blob that is simply chipped away as weight loss occurs, or added to as weight gain occurs.

In reality, white adipose tissue is a dynamic organ that is constantly storing and releasing fat. In overweight people it is storing more than it is releasing, and the process creates inflammatory friction. The important point to grasp is that white adipose tissue is metabolically active, albeit inefficient in overweight people.

Your white adipose tissue is constantly making new fat cells and killing off old ones at a rate that you hope is reflective of health. Newer fat cells produce hormones such as leptin and adiponectin in proper amounts, while older and stressed out fat cells make excess leptin and not enough adiponectin. Most nutrients that promote weight loss help manage this process, helping your body make an appropriate amount of new fat cells and helping existing fat cells work better.

Of course, the largest stress to fat cells is excess food consumption, causing them to swell excessively in size and causing far too many new fat cells to form as a type of self-defense against being poisoned by too much food. As a person cuts back on food consumption and increases activity, an environment is created wherein fat calories in storage can be released and used as fuel if the fat cells are up to the task.

The problem for fat cells is that many of them are swollen, sprained, and sickly. When fat cells are crammed full they swell in size and their structure becomes unstable. They send out an SOS message to the liver to make more cholesterol to prop up their teetering three dimensional structure. All of this panic alarms the immune cells that naturally reside in the white adipose tissue, and these immune cells elevate a message (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, MCP-1) which causes immune cells from other areas of the body to enter the white adipose tissue – an event that ramps up inflammation within adipose tissue.

At the gene level, sickly fat has chronically elevated NF-kappaB, the core gene signal that regulates inflammation. In turn, immune cells within fat produce too much TNFa and IL6, as well as other inflammatory signals. This inflammation is self-perpetuating within the white adipose tissue due to continued excess food. The inflammation then spills out of the white adipose tissue and contributes to all manner of poor health as a form of significant stress, often contributing to aches and pains around one’s body. Any other health issue a person has is made worse by the inflammation coming from fat. And this is the nature of the downward health spiral of overweight America.

True enough, reducing calorie intake to a normal level and increasing exercise to an active level create an environment wherein weight loss might take place. If it doesn’t, it typically means that there are too many sprained and injured fat cells that simply can’t get in metabolic gear.

With nutrition you can help resolve this situation, both in the short-term and long-term. In the short-term, nutrients that reduce inflammation within white adipose tissue can help “put out the fire” as well as help relieve the sprained nature of existing fat cells. Such cells may still not run like new, but at least they can be better. In the long-term, these same nutrients usually help produce new fat cells and regulate their efficiency, so that if you now don’t overeat you will gradually have a larger number of more functional fat cells. This later process can take several years or longer to reach a level reflective of dramatically better metabolism.

There are many nutrients that contribute to improved white adipose tissue function. Nutrients tend to work in slightly different manners, as the gene signaling involved with this process is highly complex. Thus, a variety of nutrients with known white adipose tissue metabolic benefits is desirable. How many different nutrients you employ or how high the dose of any one nutrient should be is unknown. Therefore, an appropriate amount is a level that helps you engage the process of weight loss, along with eating properly and being active.

Eating less has its limitations as within several weeks of significantly reduced calorie intake your body may begin to think it is starving and will slow down your metabolism. You may be able to get off a few pounds in this manner, but seldom will you get to a proper goal weight simply by cutting back on calories. And if you cut back too much you will be at risk for rebound weight gain, as your subconscious brain thinks it needs to recover from “starvation” by storing calories as fat.

Being more active is quite important. If you push exercise significantly you will need to eat more or you will be quite tired and more prone to injury. Being more active is also quite positive in that it can help prevent your body from thinking it is starving when eating less.

Increasing the number of supportive nutrients and/or their dose is quite safe. It is simply a matter of finding a combination and amount that help get your body out of the inflammatory rut. Using enough to engage the process of weight loss is important. If you hit a plateau you may need higher doses or other nutrients. As time goes along and your fitness improves, and you have more new metabolically active fat cells, you will need fewer nutrients. 

Be careful, many people think that their improved metabolism can now tolerate their former excess – which may be true on occasion but not as an ongoing lifestyle pattern of eating.

Nutrients that Help White Adipose Tissue

The following is a list of nutrients with known anti-inflammatory properties within white adipose tissue.

Quercetin – Quercetin is recognized as a superior nutrient for lowering inflammation within white adipose tissue by a variety of mechanisms, including lowering TNFa, NF-kappaB, IL-6, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 1000 mg – 3000 mg per day.

Quercetin guards against excess formation of new fat cells while enhancing the death rate of old fat cells. It is also a potent antioxidant within white adipose tissue and can even help improve leptin resistance. It helps insulin resistance while assisting the activation of AMPK, which leads to fat burning.

Additional references:
Quercetin for Nerves, Allergies, Immunity, and Metabolism
Quercetin Can Guard Against Metabolic Syndrome, Fatty Liver, and Abdominal Fat
Quercetin Lowers Leptin and Colon Cancer Risk

Green Tea Catechins (EGCG) – EGCG is the active compound in green tea which activates genes in fat cells that prevent excess fat accumulation. Like quercetin it also activates AMPK to boost fat burning. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg of EGCG per day (approximately 1400 mg – 4200 mg of green tea, depending on extract potency).

When immune cells of white adipose tissue are exposed to EGCG they begin to regulate normally, no longer behaving in an inflamed manner. EGCG helps nerve tone, including the activation of the calorie-disposing brown adipose tissue. Numerous human studies show that EGCG is an excellent weight management nutrient.

Additional references:
The Effects of Green Tea on Weight Management
Green Tea Can Help Your Body Shed Excess Fat
Green Tea as a Potent Weight Loss Nutrient

Curcumin – Curcumin has long been recognized as an anti-inflammatory nutrient, thus it comes as no surprise that it potently reduces inflammation in white adipose tissue. This includes reduction of NF-kappaB, TNFa, and MCP-1. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.

Curcumin helps lower leptin resistance, boost adiponectin, and reverse insulin resistance. It also helps turn on fat burning genes.

Additional references:
Curcumin Now Touted as a Significant Weight Loss & Disease Prevention Nutrient
Turmeric (Curcumin) and Cinnamon Lower Insulin and Triglycerides

Resveratrol – Resveratrol has been found to activate the Sirt1 gene in fat cells, highly synergistic with AMPK and increased fat burning. It also helps reduce inflammation within fat cells. Typical weight management dose is 200 mg – 600 mg per day.

Resveratrol helps prevent fat accumulation in fat cells, helps speed the release of fat from fat cells, helps regulate new fat cell formation, and helps clear out old fat cells.

Additional references:
Resveratrol Helps Break Down Stored Fat
Is Resveratrol the Fountain of Youth?
Resveratrol Improves Insulin Function and Longevity

DHA DHA reduces the accumulation of fat in fat cells, helps prevent fat cells from expanding in size, helps regulate the rate of new fat cell formation, reduces NF-kappaB and MCP-1, lowers leptin resistance, and boosts adiponectin. Typical weight management dose of DHA is 500 mg – 3000 mg per day, higher amounts to help more stubborn situations.

Additional references:
DHA Protects Against the Metabolic Flu of Obesity
DHA Omega 3 Fatty Acids in the War Against Obesity
How DHA Helps Inflammation and Diabetes

The above list of five nutrients is by no means a complete list. It is a list of nutrients that have the most science supporting their metabolic activity within white adipose tissue to help lower excess inflammation and promote healthier fat. This is a vitally important topic for healthy weight management.