Obesity related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases could be fight off by eating peaches, nectarines and plums because they contain bioactive compounds, which can stave off these diseases, reveals a new study. The bioactive compounds in peaches, nectarine and plums could be a weapon against metabolic syndrome.
In metabolic syndrome, obesity and inflammation could cause serious health issues. In recent decade obesity has become the major concern in society because of health problems associated with it. About thirty percent of US population is overweight or obese and the cases of obesity are increasing each year in alarming numbers.
Several factors such as lifestyle, genetic predisposition and diet play a major role in one’s tendency toward obesity. The key apprehension about obesity is the associated disease known as metabolic syndrome. The studies by experts from Texas A&M University have shown that stone fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines, contain bioactive compounds which can potentially fight the metabolic syndrome.
Lead author Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, food scientist at Texas AgriLife Research at Texas A&M University, stated their work signifies that phenolic compounds present in these fruits have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties in different cell lines and may also reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol LDL which is associated to cardiovascular disease.
What is unique to these fruits is that their mixture of the bioactive compounds works concurrently within the different components of the disease. The four major phenolic groups such as anthocyanins, clorogenic acids, quercetin derivatives and catechins, work on different cells like fat cells, macrophages and vascular endothelial cells. They transform different expressions of genes and proteins depending on the type of compound.
However, simultaneously, all of them are working all together in different fronts against the components of the disease, including obesity, inflammation, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, concluded Cisneros-Zevallos. These study findings will be presented in the annual meet at the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.