Archive for July 15th, 2010

Brown Adipose Tissue Ups Capsinoids Energy-Burning Abilities

TOKYO—Consuming capsinoids, even just once, increases energy expenditure, especially in people with a high level of activity in brown adipose tissue, according to new research from Ajinomoto Co. Inc. A group led by professor Masayuki Saito of Tenshi College in Sapporo, Japan found a single ingestion of the a sweet chili pepper extract increased energy expenditure compared to placebo.

The study measured energy expenditure in 18 men after a single 9-mg ingestion of capsinoids, or a single ingestion of a placebo, and the two results were compared. Based on PET imaging, the test subjects were divided into those with a high level of brown adipose tissue activity (10 people) and those with a low level of activity (8 people).
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Crucial Aspects Of Brain Dopamine Signaling Altered By A High Fat Diet

Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that prolonged exposure to a high fat diet is correlated with changes in the brain chemical dopamine within the striatum, a critical component of the brain’s reward system.

The authors measured ‘real-time’ changes in dopamine levels after rats consumed a high fat diet for either 2 or 6 weeks. Compared to rats consuming a standard low fat diet, high-fat diet rats exhibited reduced dopamine release and also reduced reuptake by “dopamine transporters” within the striatum. Mitchell Roitman from the University of Illinois at Chicago says, “Previous research has demonstrated reduced dopamine transporter numbers in association with obesity and exposure to a high fat diet. Our research shows that these changes lead to major differences in the way dopamine functions in the brain.” The results from this study highlight the impact of diet on brain neurochemistry – and in particular on brain systems that regulate motivation and willingness to work for food reward in rats as well as humans.
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Tart Cherry Juice May Be A Natural Solution For Insomnia

Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food1.

A team of University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and VA Center of Canandaigua researchers conducted a pilot study on the sleep habits of 15 older adults. The adults drank 8 ounces of tart cherry juice beverage (CheriBundi www.cheribundi.com) in the morning and evening for 2 weeks, and a comparable matched juice drink, with no tart cherry juice, for another 2 week period. There were significant reductions in reported insomnia severity and the adults saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep, on average, when drinking cherry juice daily, compared to when they were drinking the juice drink.
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