Brown Seaweed Extract - Power "Plant" Burns Fat!

1/17/08

Dear Friends and Family,

I have been receiving a lot of questions about my recent weight loss and thought I would go ahead and let you all know what's going on.

Fucoxanthan mentioned below is the part of Fucoidan that gives it it's brown pigment color. My personal weight loss and that of many other people I know consuming Fucoidan and Pomegranate extracts together and living a fairly healthy lifestyle are consistent with the findings in the two human clinical trials mentioned here (average of about 3+ lbs per month). Also, the Newswise Science article at the bottom contains information on clinical trials with animals revealing weight loss success and mentions extracting Fucoxanthan for human use so that we are not required to consume large amounts of seaweed and for better absorption of the nutrients.

I am at 17-18 lbs. so far (easiest weight-loss ever in my life) and can't even imagine what dieting, exercise and going to bed on time would have added to my progress(I need to get on that). I made no diet changes and had continued eating a small amount of animal products during the first 10 lbs of weight loss (late June to late September). Sometime in October I "almost" completely eliminated the small amount of animal products that I had been consuming over the past 7 years (mainly while eating out or at social functions and of course caving in to my cheese addiction). I am now on the high carb (whole grains of course), high vegetable and little bit of fruit program and have continued losing weight at about the same rate as I did during the first 10 lbs.! So much for Atkins..... I am currently about 99.5% Vegan and reserve that .05% right in order to eat pure, non-mercury fish if I can ever find or afford any (please let me know if you can find the kind Jesus ate cause I really want some...seriously) and maybe a very occasional Kosher/Organic special food of some other animal sort that would really be worth the 2 days it would take to digest (obviously that would not include pork or shellfish which are un-Kosher and take about 2 years to digest...or is it 20? hee, hee). So much for the Cuban roast pig party on Christmas Eve.....Bummer!!!! It smelled really good too. I hope that one bite of pork I took to taste my sister's seasoning has finished digesting by now... Maybe next time I'll wear a nose-clip and a blind-fold so I can resist and not have to rely on willpower.

Blessings,
Miriam

Power "Plant" Burns Fat!

Most people know that eating more calories than you burn is the main contributor to weight gain. While it is easy to understand that caloric intake is entirely dependent on your dietary habits, you might wonder about how the body burns those calories. Besides using energy to allow our organs to function and muscles to contract (like when working out and even for everyday activities like walking), it is also spent to produce heat via a process called thermogenesis. This literally means generation of heat, hence the term “burning” fat.

Fat is the fuel for thermogenesis, which can be amplified by compounds that make the body produce more heat, called thermogenic substances. The thermogenic substances like ephedra, ma huang and guarana can cause undesired side effects, such as jitters, increased heart rate and loss of sleep. Now research has discovered a natural non-stimulant thermogenic compound that supports burning of fat without these undesirable side effects. It is called fucoxanthin.

Fucoxanthin is a brown pigment found in some marine vegetables or seaweeds, such as kombu and wakame. It belongs to the class of compounds called carotenoids, along with beta-carotene in carrots, lycopene in tomatoes and lutein in dark green leafy vegetables. Unlike beta-carotene, which is metabolized into vitamin A in the body, fucoxanthin works by affecting the function of intracellular structures called mitochondria.

Mitochondria are often referred to as “power plants” of the cell. This is where fat burning takes place resulting in generation of heat, or thermogenesis. Research shows that fucoxanthin increases production of uncoupling protein 1(UCP1) in the mitochondria. UCP1 is a protein that causes mitochondria to make more energy that dissipates in the form of heat. This results in higher metabolic and fat-burning rate in the fat cells where the fuel is stored. This effect of a special concentrate of fucoxanthin was shown to be further enhanced by pomegranate seed oil. Two recent human clinical studies reviewed the effect of this fucoxanthin and pomegranate seed oil formulation when used in conjunction with an 1800 calorie diet. In one of the human clinical studies, this proprietary combination produced a statistically significant increase in the energy expenditure rate of 18.2% over placebo in 16 consecutive weeks. In the other clinical study the participants lost an average of 14.5 pounds, compared to 3 pounds in the placebo group. These studies are being prepared for publication in peer-reviewed journals in 2007.

Source: American Chemical Society (ACS) Released: Wed 06-Sep-2006, 15:00 ET
Embargo expired: Mon 11-Sep-2006, 11:45 ET Printer-friendly Version


Brown Seaweed Contains Promising Fat Fighter, Weight Reducer
Libraries
Science News
CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS/MATERIALS SCIENCES; AGRICULTURE; FOOD/FOOD SCIENCE; MEDICINE/HEALTH; DIET/BODY WEIGHT; EATING DISORDERS/OBESITY.
Contact Information


Chemists in Japan have found that brown seaweed, a flavor component used in many Asian soups and salads, contains a compound that appears in animal studies to promote weight loss by reducing the accumulation of fat. The compound, fucoxanthin, could be developed into a natural extract or drug to help fight obesity, the researchers say. Their study will be described Sept. 11 at the national meeting of the ACS.

Brown seaweed, used as a flavor component in many Asian soups and salads, contains a compound that appears in animal studies to promote weight loss by reducing the accumulation of fat, according to researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan. Shown is Undaria pinnatifida, a type of brown seaweed also known as wakame.

Chemists in Japan have found that brown seaweed, a flavor component used in many Asian soups and salads, contains a compound that appears in animal studies to promote weight loss by reducing the accumulation of fat. Called fucoxanthin, the compound achieved a 5 percent to 10 percent weight reduction in test animals and could be developed into a natural extract or drug to help fight obesity, the researchers say.

The compound targets abdominal fat, in particular, and may help reduce oversized guts, the scientists say. Their study was presented today at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Fucoxanthin is a brownish pigment that gives brown seaweed its characteristic color and also conducts photosynthesis (the conversion of light to energy). It is found at high levels in several different types of brown seaweed, including a type of kelp that is used in traditional Japanese miso soup. But fucoxanthin is not found in abundance in green and red seaweed, which also are used in many Asian foods, the researchers say.

The brown seaweed used in the current study was Undaria pinnatifida, a type of kelp also known as wakame, which is widely consumed in Japan. As kelp forests are found in abundance along the California coast, the new research findings could represent a potentially lucrative market if kelp — of which there are many varieties — can be developed into effective anti-obesity drugs, according to the scientists.

“I hope that our study [points to a way to] help reduce obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere,” says study leader Kazuo Miyashita, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, Japan. The compound appears to fight fat through two different mechanisms, he says.

The study involved more than 200 rats and mice. In obese animals fed fucoxanthin, the compound appeared to stimulate a protein, UCP1, that causes fat oxidation and conversion of energy to heat, Miyashita says. The protein is found in white adipose tissue, the type of fat that surrounds internal organs. As the abdominal area contains abundant adipose tissue, the compound might be particularly effective at shrinking oversized guts, the researcher says. This is the first time that a natural food component has been shown to reduce fat by targeting the UCP1 protein, he says.

The pigment also appeared in animal studies to stimulate the liver to produce a compound called DHA, a type of omega-3 fatty acid, at levels comparable to fish oil supplementation. Increased levels of DHA reduce ‘bad cholesterol’ (low density lipoprotein), which is known to contribute to obesity and heart disease. But unlike fish oil supplements, fucoxanthin doesn’t have an unpleasant smell, Miyashita says. No adverse side effects from fucoxanthin were reported in the mice and rats used in the study.

But eating lots of seaweed is not the quickest or most convenient path to weight loss, Miyashita cautions. He notes that a person would probably need to eat huge amounts of brown seaweed daily to cause noticeable weight loss. That’s because fucoxanthin is tightly bound to proteins in the seaweed and is not easily absorbed in the form of whole seaweed. However, he hopes to extract the most active form of fucoxanthin from brown seaweed so that it can be developed into a pill that people can take daily or as needed.

Human studies are planned, the researcher says, but adds that it may take three to five years before such an anti-obesity pill is available to consumers. Until then, people should continue to eat a well-balanced diet and get plenty of exercise, he says. Funding for the current study was provided by the Japanese government.

The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


The paper on this research, AGFD 039, will be presented Monday, Sept. 11, at 8:45 a.m., at the San Francisco Marriott, Nob Hill C, during the symposium, “Functional Foods and Health.”

Kazuo Miyashita, Ph.D., is a chemistry professor in the Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences at Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, Japan.