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There are plenty of diet plans out there that promote weight loss. These diets usually involve either restricting the amount of calories you consume, eating only at specific times during the day or avoiding certain foods or food groups altogether. And while sticking to these plans religiously can give you your desired results, they may come at the expense of your nutritional needs.

But a recent study by Austian and Spanish researchers present another solution to weight problems that doesn’t involve adhering to restrictive diets. In it, they describe how flavonoids present in grapefruit and helichrysum — also known as everlasting flowers — can help lower insulin levels, improve insulin resistance and reduce inflammation, as well as weight gain.

When and why do you need to lose weight?

People aim to lose weight for different reasons. Some may want a slender appearance, while others push for it for the sake of their health. Individuals who suffer from chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease are often required to lose weight as part of their treatment. The reason for this is that these conditions — and many more — are linked to obesity.

Being overweight or obese means having an excessive amount of fat in your body. Abnormal fat accumulation leads to serious health problems because it triggers inflammation.

The inflammatory process is part of your body’s immune response to infections or injuries. When well-regulated, inflammation lasts only a short period and subsides on its own. However, studies show that overeating heightens your immune response, causing excessive inflammation that damages tissues and organs. Chronic inflammatory diseases arise because of this.

Overeating and being physically inactive are the main causes of obesity. When you take in more calories than you are able to burn, your body automatically stores the excess calories as fat. This fat, particularly if stored in your belly, can surround important organs and put you at an even greater risk of serious diseases. The only way to avoid health problems caused by obesity is to lose weight.

A new and natural way to shed pounds

In their study, which appeared in the Journal of Medicinal Food, the Austrian-Spanish team linked chronic inflammation to increased oxidative stress — that is, an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. According to them, this imbalance contributes to insulin resistance, which accompanies obesity and leads to Type 2 diabetes.

Fortunately, compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties abound in foods, like the flavonoids present in grapefruit and helichrysum. Helichrysum is a flowering plant known for its essential oil. Studies suggest that it provides plenty of health benefits, including preventing weight gain. The leaves and essential oil of helichrysum are often used as food flavorings.

Besides reducing oxidative damage and inflammation, some flavonoids in grapefruit and helichrysum can also lower blood sugar and lipid levels. For instance, kaempferol from helichrysum was found to have beneficial effects against hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Naringenin from grapefruit can lower blood cholesterol levels. Other flavonoids present in both were also reported to improve fat metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

To find out if these flavonoids can help with obesity management, the researchers gave overweight and glucose-intolerant rats extracts from grapefruit and helichrysum together with a standard diet. After five weeks, the rats that received either extract gained less body weight and had lower insulin levels than rats that didn’t. Markers for insulin resistance, oxidative stress and inflammation also dropped for the supplemented rats.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that grapefruit and helichrysum extracts can be used to complement a balanced diet for healthy weight management.

Sources:

LiebertPub.com

WHO.int

ScienceDaily.com

VeryWellHealth.com

Healthline.com

MedicalNewsToday.com

EurekaSelect.com