2011 Volume 58 Issue 8 Pages 398-402
Much evidence suggests that tea has anti-obesity properties. Studies have been conducted using Goishi tea, a post-fermented tea produced in Otoyo town, Kochi, Japan. As previously reported by Miyamura et al. in 2008, Goishi tea has antioxidant and anti-arteriosclerotic effects. The present study investigated the influence of Goishi tea on visceral fat weight in diet-induced obese mice. Obesity was induced in C57BL/6J mice by administrations of High-Fat Diet (HFD) for 28 days. We assessed obesity by measuring body weight, blood glucose, triglyceride (TG), total-cholesterol (T-CHO), insulin, internal fat weight and adipocytokine levels. The 28-day study indicated that the body and lipid weights were substantially higher in the HFD group than in the normal diet (ND) group. Intake of Goishi tea was shown to inhibit adipose tissue enlargement. In addition, the level of adiponectin in the Goishi tea group was the same as in the ND group. Goishi tea was also found to control an increase in tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the HFD group. It was suggested that Goishi tea is effective for treatment of metabolic syndrome.
