Polysaccharide From Lotus Leaf Can Improve Obesity

Polysaccharide from lotus leaf can improve obesity

Obesity: One of the top ten chronic diseases

According to the definition of the World Health Organization: BMI index greater than or equal to 25 is overweight, and BMI index greater than or equal to 30 is obese. According to the actual situation of the Chinese people, my country has adjusted the definition of the World Health Organization to ≥24 for overweight and ≥28 for obesity.

If you want to know your obesity status, you can quickly judge it through the BMI index.

With the advancement of science and technology, the actual BMI value is only a reference value. To truly measure whether a patient is obese, body fat rate, waist-to-height ratio, and visceral fat are more accurate.

In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards and changes in dietary structure, obesity has become a more serious social problem in the world. The World Health Organization has identified "obesity" as one of the top ten chronic diseases. According to the "2022 European Regional Obesity Report" released by the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity have reached "epidemic" levels in Europe, and it is estimated that 1.2 million deaths will be caused each year. In China, the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" shows that more than half of the adult residents in my country are overweight or obese (50.7%), and the overweight and obesity rates of children and adolescents under 6 years old and 6 to 17 years old are 10.4% and 19.0%, respectively.

Polysaccharides from lotus leaf cymbidium

Lysimachia cymbidium is an edible fungus species widely distributed in the northern temperate zone. A study published in Carbohydrate Polymers found that polysaccharides isolated from lotus leaf cymbidium can improve obesity by changing the intestinal flora of mice and increasing energy consumption.

Studies have shown that polysaccharides isolated from lotus leaf cymbidium effectively reduce obesity and related diseases in diet-induced obese mice. Changes in the intestinal microbiota were detected in polysaccharide-treated mice, with enrichment of intestinal Bacteroides and Lactobacillus johnsonii and increased secondary bile acids.Using the experimental method of supplementing Bifidobacterium intestinale and Lactobacillus johnsonii, it was concluded that obesity and hyperlipidemia in mice can be prevented. Increased energy expenditure in brown adipose tissue due to upregulation of the TGR5 pathway activated by secondary bile acids was inferred as one of the potential mechanisms of the polysaccharide's action. These results confirm that polysaccharides derived from L. pleurotus are new prebiotics for the prevention of obesity.