We heard about grapefruit a number of years ago with the grapefruit diets.  The idea was that grapefruit effected your metabolism when eaten before meals because certain bioactive compounds that were contained within the fruit and juice of the fruit. 

Now, new research from the University of Western Ontario has shown that a substance in tangerines helps to battle obesity.  In addition to this benefit, this study also found this substance to give protection against heart disease and helps guard against Type 2 diabetes.  So the benefits of the fruit are more widespread than just a simple weight loss tool.

This study was done on mice.  In one group, the researchers fed the mice the typical western diet, that is, a diet high in fats and sugars.  The second group of mice were fed the same unhealthy diet, but in addition to that, they were given nobiletin. 

Nobiletin is a substance that is found in tangerines in high concentration.  The first group of mice developed all of the disease processes that afflict the western society such as obesity, elevated insulin, glucose and cholesterol levels and fatty livers which are the beginnings of Type 2 diabetes. 

These metabolic irregularities raise the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes.  The second group of mice who were fed the nobiletin, the substance found in tangerines, did not develop any of these symptoms even though they had consumed the same high fat, high sugar diet. 

The mice who were given the nobiletin showed no changes in cholesterol or insulin levels and weight gain was at a normal healthy level.  These mice did not have fatty livers and were protected from atherosclerosis.

Drawing parallels from mice to humans, the hope is that humans can benefit from the substance found in tangerines in the same manner as the mice in the experiment did.  This study paves the way for further research to be done to show of nobiletin can be effective for treatment on people to guard against these major health issues.

If you are an organge or tangerine lover, then this is really good news for you and you may want to increase your intake of this fruit in case the way it works on mice is truly the way it also works in humans!

Tangerines are a great dessert, and you can drink the juice as well, but the whole fruit is always the best way to go since the flesh of the fruit is more filling and nutritious in its fiber content.

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