Every Sip of Plain Water Reduces Your T2DM Risk, Oxidized Proteins are Better Indicators of Metabolic Health Than Oxi-Lipids and Melatonin Can Rein Expanding Fat Cells in
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- Advanced Oxidation Protein Products (AOPPs) are more Related to Metabolic Syndrome Components than Biomarkers of Lipid Peroxidation (Venturini. 2015) - As previously hinted at, AOPPs are not exactly the #1 marker of how severe one's metabolic syndrome is. Rather than advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), most researchers use markers of lipid peroxidation to determine the level of oxidative stress in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients - because they are more reliable? No, but rather because that's what they've done for decades in spite of the fact that a direct comparison between protein and has not been performed yet.
The aim of a recent study from the University of Londrina was thus to compare protein peroxidation with lipid peroxidation measured by two different methodologies [tert-butyl hydroperoxide initiate chemiluminescence (CL-LOOH) and ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange (FOX) assay]. The hypothesis the scientists wanted to prove was that AOPPs would be more related to MetS than oxidative markers of lipid peroxidation. To validate it, they conducted a cross-sectional study with 76 patients with MetS and 20 healthy subjects serving as controls.
The results of the study unsurprisingly confirmed that that the prooxidant-antioxidant index (PAI) assessed as AOPPs/TRAP ratio progressively increased (p<0.05) according to the number of MetS components. For the AOPPs and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) it took five components, e.g. obesity, insulin resistance, etc. for them to increase (p<0.05) when five components were compared to three components.
That's not better than the prooxidant-anioxidant index, though, but significantly more reliable than a simple measure of lipid peroxidation. As the authors point out, "[i]n a broader context, the impact of this original work lays in the importance of determining AOPP in the study of metabolic syndrome patients; understanding the mechanisms by which an early event in MetS pathophysiology, such as oxidative stress act on chronic diseases will enable us to comprehend the rationale which underlies intervention in such conditions" (Venturini. 2015). As always, though, more studies are warranted to confirm the present data. - Melatonin reduces obesity and restores adipokine patterns and metabolism in obese (ob/ob) mice (Favero. 2015) - Before I discuss the results of the study at hand, let me briefly deal with the rumor that taking melatonin supplements would make you insulin resistant that's all over Facebook, recently.
While there's no doubt that the study people cite to substantiate their claims shows a sign. reduction in the clearance of glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test, the whole regimen Rubio-Sastre et al. used is BOGUS, ... unless obviously you take your melatonin pill and start pigging out on a glass of liquid sugar there-after instead of going to bed. In other words, with the timing being "take a melatonin pill, wait for the melatonin to hit your blood stream, do the glucose tolerance test", the protocol has nothing to do with the way you're supposed to take melatonin, i.e. 1-2 hours after your last meal and ~1h before you go to bed without bedtime candy. When it's released at the right time and away from the immediate post-prandial phase, melatonin is after all a negative predictor of your T2DM risk (McMullan. 2013).Figure 1: Melatonin acts it anti-metabolic-syndrome magic right at the level of the fat cell (Favero. 2015) - melatonin will increase the expression of leptin in fat cells and thus tell your body there was more fat around (Alonso-Vale. 2005) - something that may be interesting particularly for reduced obese people who cannot lose weight / regain weight easily;
- melatonin will also inhibit the formation of new fat cells and storage of extra-energy in (Alonso‐Vale. 2009; Zhang. 2010) - an effect of which most people ignore that it could be partly responsible for the acute reduction in insulin sensitivity, especially in under-muscled post-menopausal women as they were used as subjects in the Rubio-Sastre study, because any reduction in lipid storage in the fat cells obviously means that the extra energy would have to be stored elsewhere;
- melatonin promotes the browning of white and activity of brown fat cells and thus the positive metabolic activity of your body fat (Heldmaier. 1974; Tan. 2011)
- Higher plain water intake is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk: A cross-sectional study in humans (Carroll. 2015) - As a SuppVersity reader you know about the importance of optimal hydration, right (if not click here)?
If so, you will probably not be extremely surprised that researchers from the University of Bristol found that not British tea, but rather a high plain water intake is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk in 138 adults from Southwest and Southeast England who answered a cross-sectional online survey assessing T2D risk (using the Diabetes UK risk assessment), physical activity (using the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and consumption of fruits, vegetables and beverages (using an adapted version of the Cambridge European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Food Frequency Questionnaire).Figure 2: Fully adj. associations between intake of beverages (mL/d) and diabetes risk score (Carroll. 2015)
That's in contrast to the significant positive correlation the scientists observed for full-fat milk and the non-significant correlation for caffeinated beverages. Likewise worth mentioning is probably that (a) the effects were most pronounced in older individuals aged 60–69 years and people with a high, but not extreme waist circumference of 100-109 cm. Why's that important? Both the age group and the waist size indicate being at a decisive point at which the next months or centimeters can make the difference between staying slightly insulin resistance and developing full-blown diabetes.
What else? Well, since this is a "nutrition research update", I guess it may be worth mentioning the recent scientific debate about the role of exercise in losing and maintaining weight. In several comments in scientific papers scientists have argued that the role of exercise in weight loss had been exaggerated and they are - you as an active individual know that - right; despite the fact that we all know that diet and exercise are only two sides of the 'healthy lifestyle coin' (Brady. 2015).
What they forget is that exercise has proven beneficial effects on your psyche and congnition (Hughes. 1984; Stephens. 1988; Wankel. 1993; Laurin. 2001, etc.). What they forget is that exercise will keep you mobile and your bones and muscles from withering away (Rogers. 1993; Daley. 2000; Williams. 2002). What they forget is that exercise is one of the main determinants of whether it's fat or other tissue weight you're losing when you're dieting and what they forget is that physical fitness is a much better determinant of one's metabolic health than the ratio of height²/weight scientists call the "body mass index" (BMI). Make sure you don't forget that when you read one of these infectious articles on Internet | Comment on Facebook!
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Whether you're young or old, nutrition counts, but it's not the only determinant of your psychological and physiological health | Learn more about the role of nutrition in aging. |
References:
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- Alonso‐Vale, Maria Isabel Cardoso, et al. "Adipocyte differentiation is inhibited by melatonin through the regulation of C/EBPβ transcriptional activity." Journal of pineal research 47.3 (2009): 221-227.
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- Carroll, Harriet A., Mark G. Davis, and Angeliki Papadaki. "Higher plain water intake is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk: A cross-sectional study in humans." Nutrition Research (2015).
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- Favero et al. "Melatonin reduces obesity and restores adipokine patterns and metabolism in obese (ob/ob) mice." Nutrition Research (2015): in press.
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- Venturini, Danielle, Andréa Name Colado Simão, and Isaias Dichi. "Advanced Oxidation Protein Products (AOPPs) are more Related to Metabolic Syndrome Components than Biomarkers of Lipid Peroxidation." Nutrition Research (2015).
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