SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

I am sorry, but if you still believe this was a healthy breakfast, I am not sure you will be able to escape diabesity ;-) You may have read it on one of the major Science News Portals, on Saturday: "[Orange juice] could contribute to chemoprevention at every stage of cancer initiation and progression. Among the most relevant biological effects of OJ [orange juice] is the juice's antigenotoxic and antimutagenic potential, which was shown in cells in culture and in rodents and humans." (Taylor & Francis. Press Release from 13. September 2013). Really? And what about the >20% increased diabetes risk from drinking fruit juices (Muraki. 2013)? If that's what you have just been thinking, I bet you will like to get some more information about the hesperidine and naringenine content of orange juice and how these could influence cancer development. Three epidemiological studies! Really? It does not take much these days to turn hopes into hypes - for ora...

Image 1: Grapefruit does not help with weight loss and, as it turns out, is not even healthy. On the contrary, in conjunction with your favorite statin it is even potentially deadly. Do you remember the "grapefruit diet" ( WebMD )? No? Well, then you are probably male and have always been satisfied with your weight. Otherwise, you would probably have heard how a "magical ingredient" in the subtropical citrus fruit is going kill all those unaesthetic adypocytes, which have made themselves at home on your hips and buttocks, in no time... What do you say? Bullsh*t? Well, I guess you have been reading to much of my stuff already, after all this purported short-cut to six-pack abs is also known as the Hollywood Diet and that alone will have people fall for it by the dozen... I mean, if Brooke Shields and Kylie Minogue got in shape with it, it must be working, right? The myth and the truth about grapefruits I know that you would never be so stupid to start eatin...

"Eat Grapefruit and lean out!" Using google, you will find similar sentences all over the web. Yet, although it sounds too good to be true - as it is often the case - there is some truth at the bottom of this rumor. A few weeks ago scientists from the Annamalai University in India published a paper ( Kannappan. 2010 ) that established a positive effect of naringenin, a bioflavonoid, from grapefruit an other citrus fruits, on insulin signaling and sensitivity. Fig.1: Oral glucose tolerance test curves of experimental animals. Values are mean ± SD (n = 6). CON control rats, FRU fructose-fed rats, FRU + NAR fructose-fed rats treated with naringenin (50 mg/kg b.w.), CON + NAR control rats treated with naringenin (50 mg/kg b.w.). ( Kannappan. 2010 )   It is easy to see from Fig. 1 that the supplementation of 50mg/kg naringenin prevented the rise in blood glucose and restored insulin sensitivity in high-fructose fed rats. Not only diabetics may benefit from these findings...