Battling Obesity: This Dietary Supplement Can Reduce Inflammation and Control Blood Sugar

A study from Brazil shows that jaboticaba peel, rich in phenolic compounds, can help manage blood sugar and inflammation in people with obesity and metabolic syndrome, offering significant health benefits when consumed as a powder supplement.

Researchers at the State University of Campinas conducted a study involving 49 participants and found that consuming a dietary supplement with 15 g of the substance daily for five weeks enhanced glucose metabolism post-meal.

The peel of the Jaboticaba berry (Plinia jaboticaba), native to Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest, is often discarded due to its high tannin content, which gives it a puckering taste. However, a study published in the journal Nutrition Research suggests that this skin could be highly beneficial in combating obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Conducted by researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo state (Brazil), the study showed that inflammation and blood sugar levels improved in volunteers with obesity and metabolic syndrome who took 15 g per day of powdered jaboticaba peel as a dietary supplement for five weeks.

Jaboticaba peel contains beneficial phenolic compounds such as anthocyanins, which give the berry its dark purple color and enhance glucose metabolism.

“The phenolic compounds and dietary fiber present in jaboticaba peel have the power to modulate glucose metabolism. We observed this effect in previous studies. This study focused on the benefits of prolonged consumption and found that the positive effect on blood sugar extends to the period following a meal, i.e. to post-prandial glycemia. Blood sugar typically rises after meals even in healthy people, although it soon returns to normal in these cases. Something that can lower blood sugar levels after meals is interesting because it helps people control this variable over time and live a healthier life,” Mário Roberto Maróstica Junior, the last author of the article and a professor at UNICAMP, told Agência FAPESP.

In the study, which was supported by FAPESP via three projects, 49 patients with metabolic syndrome and obesity were divided into two groups, one of which took 15 g of jaboticaba peel powder as a daily supplement for five weeks, while the other took a placebo. Body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, metabolic and inflammatory parameters such as interleukin-6 (a marker of obesity and systemic inflammation) were assessed at weeks 0 and 5, and blood sugar was regularly measured.

“The main benefits of taking the supplement were lower post-prandial glycemia and less inflammation. Jaboticaba can’t perform miracles, but it’s an excellent way to help control blood sugar. Of course, it needs to be used in conjunction with other measures, such as a healthy diet and physical exercise,” he said.

Bioactive Compounds

The phenolic compounds present in jaboticaba peel include anthocyanins, which give the berry its deep purple color and enhance glucose metabolism, above all by stimulating L-intestinal cells. “When these substances reach the intestines, they come into contact with L-cells, which release a compound called GLP-1 [glucagon-like peptide-1], which in turn triggers the release of insulin by the pancreatic cells,” he said.

Insulin released by the pancreas improves the use of glucose. “This is one of the functions of insulin. When it reaches the muscle cells, which are the prime drivers of glucose uptake, insulin triggers a signaling cascade that favors the transport of glucose into the cell,” he said.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic and hormonal alterations that heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure and blood sugar, abdominal obesity, and abnormal levels of triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. In the study, the 49 participants with metabolic syndrome exhibited at least three of these five alterations.

Obesity is generally associated with abnormally high levels of pro-inflammatory molecules. “It’s as if the person had constant inflammation. This hinders the action of insulin so that overweight and obese people tend to be insulin-resistant. In these cases, insulin is usually produced but doesn’t work properly,” he said.

The abnormally high level of blood sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes unless it is treated with medication and/or healthy habits and weight loss. “Jaboticaba peel supplement reduces the level of interleukin-6, which plays a key role in the development of insulin resistance and contributes to adipose tissue inflammation. Its positive effect on post-prandial blood sugar and inflammation makes it an ally for the treatment of metabolic syndrome,” he said.

No one wants to eat jaboticaba peel as such because of its astringency, he acknowledged, “but this problem can be surmounted by using the commercially available extracts and supplements.”

Reference: “Jaboticaba peel improves postprandial glucose and inflammation: A randomized controlled trial in adults with metabolic syndrome” by Marina Vilar Geraldi, Ágatta Caroline de Souza, Marina Maintinguer Norde, Paulo Roberto Berni, Lívia Mateus Reguengo, Bruno Geloneze and Mario Roberto Marostica, 28 February 2024, Nutrition Research.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2024.02.008

The study was funded by the ão Paulo Research Foundation.