We love when new research results come out about Nordic berries! This time the star is lingonberry, the tart, and beautifully red berry.
Lingonberry succeeded in surprising the University of Tampere's Immunopharmacology Research Group, which investigated the effects of lingonberry powder added to food in an obesity model. In the experiment, the mice received a high-fat diet for six weeks. Fat was as much as 46% of the total energy. “It resembled a poor Western diet,” says Eeva Moilanen, a professor of pharmacology. The diet is likely to develop a state of metabolic syndrome in which weight increases, cholesterol levels rise, liver fat becomes obese, and diabetes-like changes develop. In addition, the body develops low-grade inflammation.
The second group of mice received low-fat feed, i.e. only 10% of its total energy was fat. The third group of mice received the same high-fat diet as the first group of mice, but lingonberries were also added in powdered form. It was common dried and ground lingonberries, similar to the NordicNordic lingonberry powder.
The researchers investigated the effect of different diets on metabolic changes and low-grade inflammation. In addition to the weight of the mice, the levels of visceral fat, blood fat and sugar, and inflammatory factors were monitored.
Significant health-promoting effects on obesity
The addition of lingonberry to food had a clear effect on the measurement results in mice. The weight gain of mice in the lingonberry group was 26% less than that in fatty feed alone.
High-fat feed increased fasting blood glucose and insulin levels and total cholesterol in mice. However, lingonberry prevented high-fat diet-induced increases in glucose and cholesterol levels. It also had a beneficial effect on insulin and triglyceride levels. Adding lingonberry to food also seemed to significantly reduce low-grade inflammation. As expected, the mice on the low-fat diet had the best results. "The results highlight the health-promoting effects of lingonberries, particularly in relation to obesity and low-grade inflammation," Moilanen says.
After the mouse experiment, researchers were interested in figuring out what else lingonberry might be used for. In cell cultures, the effects of twelve lingonberry cleansers on the mechanism regulating low-grade inflammation, i.e., the polarization of macrophages M1 / M2, were measured. Three of the substances, resveratrol, quercetin, and chemferol, were found to inhibit M1 activation, which increases inflammation. In addition, they and anthocyanidins were found to potentiate anti-inflammatory M2 activation.
"These compounds may help explain the beneficial effects of lingonberry in the mouse experiment," Moilanen says.
So what does it all mean?
We have long known that lingonberries contain high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, and resveratrol. Now we also know that lingonberry can help us maintain a healthier weight, and lower cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation levels. Just add a tablespoon of our delicious NordicNordic lingonberry powder to any meal each day!
With Health, Nina
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