• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2021

Objectives: This study sought to assess the prevalence and duration of weight-control or health functional food use, associated weight-control behavior, perception, and knowledge among university students. Methods: The subjects were 442 university students in Cheonju, Korea, and data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. Both χ2 and t-tests were conducted for categorical and mean comparisons. Results: An estimated 62.7% (female 69.0%, male 54.8%) had ever attempted weight-control. Among these, an estimated 59.2% of females and 38.9% of males had used weight-control or health functional foods with significant gender difference. The weight-control foods commonly used included chicken breast, protein powder, low-fat milk and soymilk, and meal replacement drinks, while garcinia cambogia extract and green tea extract were frequently used as health functional foods. One of 10 (10.3%) consumers of weight-control foods reported ≥ 7 months use, with less frequent long-term consumption of health functional foods (4.2%). The average degree of satisfaction was 3.24 ± 0.92 for weight-control foods and 2.72 ± 0.97 for health functional foods on a 5-point scale, meaning 'slightly satisfied' and 'slightly dissatisfied', respectively. Females or students with an experience of weight-control reported poorer perceptions of their health and body image as well as a higher need for weight control. Besides, both male and female subjects felt a high need for correct information regarding weight-control methods. Conclusions: Our results provide a better understanding of the characteristics associated with the use of weight-control or health functional foods among university students and will be useful in developing a nutrition education program by incorporating correct body image, knowledge, and practical yet desirable practices for weight control.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2024

Objectives : This study aims to analyze the anti-obesity effect of Syzygium aromaticum L. (SA) in obese mice made by a 60% high-fat diet (HFD). Methods : The antioxidant activities of SA were evaluated in vitro. To assess the anti-obesity effect of SA, male C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups: Normal, Control, GC100 (Garcinia cambogia 100 mg/kg/day), SA100 (SA 100 mg/kg/day), SA200 (SA 200 mg/kg/day). All groups underwent a 6-week regimen of HFD and oral administration, except for the Normal group. Subsequently, we performed blood analysis, western blotting, and histopathological staining. Results : SA demonstrated effectiveness in antioxidant measurements. SA treatment resulted in a significant decrease in body weight gain, along with reductions in liver and epididymal fat weights. Serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and leptin levels were reduced with SA treatment. Moreover, in the SA100 group, the reduction of both TG and TC synthesis was caused by inhibiting the sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 1 (SREBP-1) and sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 2 (SREBP-2) through the Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1)/phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) pathway. Furthermore, SA treatment at a dose of 100 mg/kg reduced the accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver and the adipocyte size of the epididymal fat. Conclusion : Our research reveals the anti-obesity effects of SA by demonstrating its ability to inhibit body weight gain and lipid accumulation, suggesting that SA might be promising for obesity treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.1411-1416
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• 2011

In this study, we investigated the anti-obesity activity of Aceriphyllum rossii ethanol extract on rat fed a high fat diet. Male SD rats were divided into four groups. Group 1 was the control. Group 2 was fed a high-fat diet. Group 3 was the positive control, fed a high-fat diet supplemented with Garcinia Cambogia extracts. Group 4 was fed a high fat diet supplemented with ethanol extracts of Aceriphyllum rossii (EEAR). Precisely 166 mg/kg of powdered Garcinia Cambogia extracts was used for Group 3. Also, 250 mg/kg of EEAR was used for Group 4. The Body weight increased Group 2, but decreased Group 4. The serum total cholesterol in Group 2 increased by 15.26% when compared to Group 1, but only increased 5.29% in Group 3 and 4.29% in Group 4. The liver and mesenteric adipose tissue weights of Group 2 increased compared to Group 1, whereas they decreased in Group 3 and Group 4. As a result of measuring the concentration of triglycerides in extracted livers, Group 2 showed a significant increase compared to the Group 1, and Groups 3 and 4 showed significant decrease compared Group 2. These results suggest that Aceriphyllum rossii ethanol extracts may be useful as an anti-obesity agent.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.319-324
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of Lythrum salicaria L. ethanol extract on anti-obesity effects in rat fed a high fat diet for 8 weeks to induce obese rat model. Male SD rats were divided into normal group, control (high fat diet) group, positive control (Garcinia Cambogia extracts) group, high fat group supplemented with ethanol extracts of Lythrum salicaria L. (EELS). The body weight gain and control (high fat diet) were increased by a high fat diet, but decreased in the EELS. At the end of the experiment, the body weight in high fat diet groups was higher than that of normal diet group, while the body weights of EELS and positive control group were significantly reduced by 16.62%, as compared with that of high fat diet group (p < 0.05). The levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol in EELS group were significantly decreased as compared with high fat diet group (p < 0.05). The liver and mesenteric adipose tissue weights of control (high fat diet) increase than that for normal group, whereas EELS and positive control group were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Levels of triglyceride in liver were significantly lower in EELS group than those in high fat diet group (p < 0.05). These results indicate that Lythrum salicaria L. extract may improve lipid metabolism and reduce fat accumulation and body weight.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.58-67
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• 2018

This study aimed to identify the effects of extracts of fermented Angelica gigas Nakai (A. gigas) with a Monascus purpureus strain on anti-obesity in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven dietary groups (n=8 per group), as follows: a normal diet group (N) and six HFD groups (C: control, HFD and no treatment; AG: HFD +10% A. gigas extracts; FAG2.5: HFD +2.5% fermented A. gigas extracts; FAG5: HFD +5% fermented A. gigas extracts; FAG10: HFD +10% fermented A. gigas extracts; GC: HFD + Garcinia cambogia extracts). FAG-fed rats exhibited effectively lowered rates of increasing body weight and visceral fat accumulation in the HFD-induced obesity model. The activities of several hepatic marker enzymes, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), were increased with HFD-induced obesity, but levels of these marker enzymes were significantly decreased in FAG-fed rats. The consumption of FAG reduced triglyceride concentrations in serum to normal levels. FAG-fed rats showed effectively increased leptin concentrations in the HFD-induced obesity model. HFD ingestion induced a significant increase in the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels, which was decreased in FAG-fed rats. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and Oil Red O staining of the liver showed that the lipid deposits were decreased via FAG feeding. Moreover, hematoxylin and eosin staining of epididymal adipose adipose tissue showed that the adipocyte were decreased by feeding FAG.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.1202-1207
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• 2016

This study investigated the anti-obesity effects of Eriobotrya japonica leaves extract (EJE) in a high-fat diet-induced obese mice model. For the analysis, 40 mice were randomly divided into five groups: normal diet (ND), high-fat diet group (HD), high-fat diet containing EJE 100 mg/kg b.w. (EJE-L), 500 mg/kg b.w. (EJE-H), and Garcinia cambogia extract 100 mg/kg b.w. in each AIN 93G supplement for 8 weeks as positive control. During the study period, food intake and body weight were measured separately. Body weight, serum triglyceride level, and total cholesterol levels of the EJE group were significantly lower than those of the HD and ND. Moreover, mice fed an EJE-containing high-fat diet showed decreased leptin levels compared with high-fat diet-induced obese mice. These results suggest that EJE has potential as an anti-obesity agent by reducing body weight and improving levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and leptin in serum.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.395-400
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• 2012

In this study, we analyzed the database for items reported to Korea Food and Drug Administration as for manufactured health/functional food during 2010. There were 183 health functional food products manufactured in domestic having over 2 functional ingredients (hereinafter, combinational health functional food) among total 7319 products. Among 183 products, there were 177 products having over two kinds of functional ingredient and 6 products were over 3 ingredients. The most commonly used functional ingredients in the combinational health functional food were Garcinia cambogia extracts which were used in 41 products, Octacosanol and Saw Palmetto extract. When we searched the safety information for the pair of ingredients used in combinational health functional food using several database, there were no reports for safety concern. However, as there are still safety concerns when intake various functional ingredients at once, we suggested to enforce the reporting system of adverse event in order to strength safety management of health functional food. With these complement, the safety management of health functional food might be achieved including a combinational products.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.570-582
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• 2020

Purpose: Obesity is a risk factor for various adult diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardio-cerebrovascular disease, and cancer. With an increasing obesity population worldwide, the prevention of obesity with natural components has emerged as an alternative health care strategy. Ramulus mori (Sangzhi, RM) is widely used as a traditional herbal medicine in East Asia. It contains various phytochemicals, including stilbenes and 2-arylbenzofurans. In this study, we compared the anti-obesity effects of RM extracts and its major stilbene components (mulberroside A [MSA] and oxyresveratrol [ORT]) in high fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. Methods: Five week-old, male C57BL/6J mice were grouped into 7 experimental groups: normal diet (ND), HFD, HFD + 1% RM water extracts (MW), HFD + 0.1% MSA, HFD + 1% RM ethanol extracts (ME), HFD + 0.1% ORT, and HFD + 1% Garcinia cambogia extracts (GC) as a positive control. All mice were fed experimental diet for 13 weeks. Results: Compared to the HFD group, total body weight and weekly body weight gain were significantly decreased in the ME, ORT, and GC groups. Glucose tolerance level was significantly decreased in all experimental groups, whereas plasma insulin level was decreased in MSA, ME, ORT and GC groups. Plasma glucose, triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol levels were significantly decreased, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were increased in the MSA, ORT, and GC groups. Hepatic TG accumulation was also significantly decreased in the MSA, ME, ORT, and GC groups. Adipose tissue weight and size of adipocytes were significantly decreased in the MSA, ME and ORT groups, and were comparable to values obtained in the GC group. The levels of adiponectin and SREBP1c mRNA expressions were increased in the ORT and GC groups. Conclusion: These results indicate that ME, ORT and MSA exert significant anti-obesity effect, and have the potential to be developed as a weight control ingredient of functional foods.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.63-70
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• 2018

Objective : Previous studies showed that water extract of Plantago asiatica (Plantaginis asiaticae Folium, PAF) significantly controlled in body weights, adipose tissue weights and blood lipid profiles in obese C57BL/6 mice. To investigate the mechanism of anti-obesity action of PAF, expressions of obesity-related proteins were identified such as p-AMPK and p-ACC in hypothalamus, UCP-1 in brown adipose tissue, p-AMPK, p-ACC, SREBP-1c, $PPAR{\gamma}$, HMGCR and CPT-1 in liver. Method : Five-weeks old male C57BL/6 mice were divided into 5 groups; ND (normal diet + 0.9% saline), HFD (high-fat diet + 0.9% saline), PC (high-fat diet+Garcinia cambogia 500 mg/kg), PAF 100 and 300 (high-fat diet + PAF 100 or 300 mg/kg). PAF was treated orally for 6 weeks. The protein expression of AMPK, p-AMPK, ACC, p-ACC, $PPAR{\gamma}$, SREBP-1c, HMGCR, CPT-1 and UCP-1 were identified by expression levels of proteins through western blot analysis. Result : The results showed that protein expressions on hypothalamic p-AMPK and p-ACC did not differ between the HFD and PAF groups. In addition, PAF did not affect the increase of UCP-1 in brown adipose tissue. The protein expression levels of hepatic p-AMPK, p-ACC and CPT-1 increased in PAF groups compared to HFD group. And those of $PPAR{\gamma}$, SREBP-1c and HMG-CoA decreased in PAF groups compared to HFD group. Conclusion : These results suggest that the PAF administration induce weight loss via inhibition of lipid metabolism-related protein expressions in hepatic tissues. Therefore, PAF could be used as a potent material of anti-obesity products for prevention and treatment of obesity.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2018

Objective : Plantago asiatica L. has been used for many years in Korea, China, and Japan for the treatment of many diseases such as anti-inflammatory, anti-asthma and diuretic. But the anti-obesity effect of Plantaginis asiaticae Folium has not been studied yet. Thus, this study aimed to demonstrate the anti-obesity efficacy of Plantaginis asiaticae Folium water extract (PAF) in high fat diet-induced obesity animal model. Method : Male, five-weeks old C57BL/6 mice were divided into 5 groups; ND (normal diet + 0.9% saline), HFD (high-fat diet + 0.9% saline), PC (high-fat diet + Garcinia cambogia 500 mg/kg), PAF 100, 300 (high-fat diet + PAF 100, 300 mg/kg. Treatments were performed daily for 6 weeks per os. We evaluated the changes of body weight, white adipose tissues weight, hepatic and fecal lipids level, pancreatic lipase activity and lipid profiles in plasma. Result : Body weights, adipose tissue weights and FER were significantly lower in mice fed the high-fat diet with PAF treatment than in mice fed the high-fat diet alone. In plasma, TG, TC, LDL-C, ATS and ALT levels significantly decreased in PAF groups compared with HFD group. Also, hepatic triglyceride (TG) levels decreased and fecal TG increased in PAF groups compared to HFD group. In addition, the activity of pancreatic lipase was decreased in the PAF groups compared to that of HFD group. Conclusion: These results suggest PAF extract is effective in preventing and improvement obesity, so it might be a potential and safe material for anti-obesity agent of weight control or functional supplements.