Yerba mate found to prevent obesity by increasing energy expenditure

Adding dietary yerba mate to a person’s diet could be used to regulate obesity, as well as insulin resistance that accompanies the condition. This study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, looked at the effects of long-term supplementation of dietary yerba on adiposity and its resulting metabolic dysfunctions.

• Researchers selected C57BL/6J mice for the trials and divided them into two groups. The control group was fed with a high-fat diet (HFD), while the experimental group was fed with an HFD with yerba mate.
• Mice that were fed with dietary yerba mate improved their energy expenditure and thermogenic gene expression in white adipose tissue (WAT). They also exhibited a decrease in fatty acid synthase (FAS) mRNA expression in their WAT, which researchers linked to a decrease in body weight, WAT weight, epididymal adipocyte size, and plasma leptin level.
• Plasma lipids, as well as lipid droplets in the liver, were noted to have decreased with yerba mate, while fecal samples that were examined revealed an increased level of lipids.
• Yerba mate also reduced plasma insulin levels and improved glucose tolerance. Gastric inhibitory peptide and resistin levels also decreased after yerba mate intake.

From these findings, researchers concluded that long-term supplementation with yerba mate can improve diet-induced adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hepatic steatosis.

Read the full text of the study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Choi M-S, Park HJ, Kim SR, Kim DY, Jung UJ. LONG-TERM DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION WITH YERBA MATE AMELIORATES DIET-INDUCED OBESITY AND METABOLIC DISORDERS IN MICE BY REGULATING ENERGY EXPENDITURE AND LIPID METABOLISM. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2017;20(12):1168–1175. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2017.3995