French scientists from the University of Franche-Comté have shown that a polyphenol-containing plant extract reverses the negative effects of high fat and carbohydrate intake and increases life expectancy in overweight mice. According to the authors of the paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the mixture will also prevent metabolic disorders and ensure long and healthy life in obese people.
First, the researchers evaluated the effects of different diets on obesity and pathogenic processes in mice. Some of the animals received food with a high amount of fat or sucrose, the rest of the rodents ate standard food. At the same time, the former developed hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), increased cholesterol, increased oxidative stress, increased adipose tissue mass, and significantly decreased average life expectancy (from 596 to 381 days).
At the same time, one of the factors causing obesity-related diseases was the penetration of immune cells into the adipose tissue that provoke inflammation. Dysbiosis and damage to the intestinal mucosa (intestinal barrier), which absorbs nutrients and prevents harmful substances from entering the bloodstream, also contributed to this.
In another part of the experiment, mice on an unhealthy diet were given a plant extract fortified with polyphenols. It contributed to a much slower increase in body weight and an increase in life expectancy from 381 days to 681 days. Plasma cholesterol levels, indicators of oxidative stress and the content of bacterial toxic substances in the intestine decreased. In addition, the immune responses associated with inflammation also bounced back.
Although obesity has long been viewed as associated with high mortality rates due to metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease, in recent years, more and more work has appeared to prove the possibility of benign or healthy obesity. Although overweight people still have more cardiovascular disorders than thin people, they are much lower than those who are simultaneously obese and metabolic.
