A new ingredient for weight loss: kudzu flower isoflavones? Japanese clinical human experiments are actually...

The sun is shining brightly and the hot summer is coming. Like Xiaoxiao, do you want to cool off at the seaside and experience the coolness of the sea water? Recently, Xiaowei is often consulted about how to choose weight loss health foods. You can learn about the effects of various weight loss products from the article "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Ingredients of Weight Loss Products". This week, Smile wants to share with you the Japanese weight loss health food that has been widely shared recently - Kudzu flower isoflavones.

1. Introduction of Pueraria lobata isoflavones

Kudzu is a plant belonging to the leguminous family. Its root is the raw material for the medicinal material Kudzu root soup. It has been a plant commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. The pharmacological classics record that kudzu flower is sweet in taste and cool in nature. Its functions include sobering up, invigorating the spleen, stopping bleeding, headache and dizziness, abdominal distension, vomiting, acid reflux, loss of appetite, vomiting blood, and intestinal bleeding. Kudzu is also processed into daily foods such as "kudzu vermicelli" and "kudzu cake". The flower parts are also used to make tempura, which has a light floral fragrance that stimulates appetite when eaten.

Among them, kudzu flower is rich in isoflavones, containing seven isoflavones in total, four of which contain glucosides (tectoridin, tectorigenin 7-O-xylosylglucoside, 6-hydroxygenistein-6,7-diglucoside, glycitin) and three aglycones (tectorigenin, glycitein, genistein).

Recent animal studies have found that daidzein and genistein in soy isoflavones can inhibit weight gain and change liver gene expression, affecting the decomposition and synthesis of fat, as well as fat cell metabolism. Interestingly, the isoflavones in kudzu flower have similar effects. Research results show that kudzu flower extract can achieve anti-obesity and anti-fatty liver effects by inhibiting fat production in the liver, promoting fat decomposition in white adipose tissue, and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue.

2. Results of Japanese Human Experiments

A randomized double-blind preliminary study in 2011 showed that adult men with BMI>24 who took 300 mg of Pueraria thomsonii flower extract daily for 8 weeks could significantly reduce their weight and BMI, and their overall fat area also tended to decrease.

However, there were too few female subjects in the 2011 study, so only male subjects could be analyzed. In 2012, the randomized double-blind study included both male and female subjects and the obesity level was more stringent (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2), and the trial time was extended to more than 12 weeks. The study included a total of 81 subjects with a BMI greater than 25, and randomly divided them into 3 groups, taking 200 mg of kudzu flower extract, 300 mg of kudzu flower extract (isoflavone content 18%, including 54 mg of kudzu flower isoflavones) and a placebo group daily for 12 weeks, followed by another 4 weeks of observation, and recording daily diet and exercise, as well as weight, BMI, fat area, and various biological test numbers. The results showed that regardless of whether men or women took 300 mg of kudzu flower extract daily, they would not be able to eat more. The flower extract reduced BMI by 0.5 and 0.7 in the 8th and 12th weeks, and visceral fat by 8.9 and 15.3 cm2; however, there was no significant decrease in subcutaneous fat area, and no significant decrease in waist and hip circumference. This shows that kudzu flower extract may reduce BMI by reducing visceral fat. In the biochemical test data, the group taking 300 mg of kudzu flower extract daily showed a decrease in triglycerides and γGTP, and there was no significant difference in other aspects, indicating that kudzu flower extract has a slight effect of lowering triglycerides and protecting the liver.

3. Positioning of Smiling Pharmacist

Based on current human evidence, taking 54 mg of kudzu flower isoflavones daily for 12 consecutive weeks can reduce BMI by 0.7 (about 2 kg if calculated based on a height of 170 cm). In fact, the weight loss effect is not obvious, but there are no side effects. But it is worth noting that kudzu flower isoflavones can effectively reduce the body's visceral fat (after 12 weeks, the visceral fat area was reduced by 15.3cm2. It is especially suitable for people with high visceral fat, fatty liver, and beer belly. Therefore, Smile recommends that kudzu flower isoflavones be used to reduce visceral fat. As for the effect of reducing weight, it is not very obvious, but it is safe.

This article comes from: Smiling Pharmacist Network

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