Foods That Prevent Obesity

Aug 31, 2009 @ 04:03 am by Guest Author

Natural Purple Pigments In Fruits, Vegetables And Berries, like the acai berry, could assist in preventing obesity as scientists in Arkansas are reporting new evidence that natural pigments responsible for the beautiful blue,purple, and reddish color qualities of certain fruits and vegetables may help in preventing obesity.

Their animal study however, reports that eating the whole fruit containing these pigments seems to be less effective than eating an extract of the berry.

Ronald L. Prior and colleagues, who conducted the study, found that past research has shown that the pigments,called anthocyanins, prevent obesity in laboratory mice fed a high-fat diet.

The mice also were reported to show other healthy benefits from the fruit. Anthocyanins are found in acai berries blackberries, purple corn, and many other purple based foods.

The study reports that researchers discovered mice that are fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks, drinking water, and taking purified anthocyanins from blueberries and the acai berry gained less weight and had lower body fat levels than a control group.

Anthocyanins fed as the whole blueberry did not prevent and could have possibly increased obesity, the study found. However, feeding purified anthocyanins from blueberries or strawberries reduced obesity.

The article “Whole Berries versus Berry Anthocyanins: Interactions with Dietary Fat Levels in the C57BL/6J Mouse Model of Obesity” can be read in full in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Colorful pigments found in the skin of blueberries, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables may help prevent obesity, according to recent animal studies from the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Dr. Jerimiah Crossderd has devoted 30 years looking into antioxidants and the huge benefits the compounds offer to the human body. He has an acai fruit portal that gives daily information on one of the most antioxidant concentratedfoods known to research. He writeson a acai fruit review site that keeps you up to date on the most reputable acai berry products.