Athletes make great efforts to increase their endurance capacity in many ways. Using nutrition supplements for stimulating lipolysis is one such strategy to improve endurance performance. These supplements contain certain ingredients that affect fat metabolism; furthermore, in combination with endurance training, they tend to have additive effects. A large body of scientific evidence shows that nutrition supplements increase fat metabolism; however, the usefulness of lipolytic supplements as ergogenic functional foods remains controversial. The present review will describe the effectiveness of lipolytic supplements in fat metabolism and as an ergogenic aid for increasing endurance exercise capacity. There are a number of lipolytic supplements available on the market, but this review focuses on natural ingredients such as caffeine, green tea extract, L-carnitine, Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid), capsaicin, ginseng, taurine, silk peptides and octacosanol, all of which have shown scientific evidence of enhancing fat metabolism associated with improving endurance performance. We excluded some other supplements owing to lack of data on fat metabolism or endurance capacity. Based on the data in this review, we suggest that a caffeine and green tea extract improves endurance performance and enhances fat oxidation. Regarding other supplements, the data on their practical implications needs to be gathered, especially for athletes.

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Irrespective of a well-known hypocholesterolemic action, a few studies have shown a hypotriglyceridemic potential of okara, a by-product of tofu manufacturing. Okara was fed to rats at the level of 2.5 and 5.0% as dietary protein for 4 wk, and serum and hepatic lipid levels were determined. In addition, soy flour, which has a well-known hypolipidemic action, was used to compare effects on lipid metabolism. Mechanisms of action were further evaluated by measuring hepatic enzyme activity, gene expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins and fecal excretion of lipids. Feeding the okara diets resulted in a significantly lower weight of the liver and adipose tissue in a dose-dependent manner. Serum triglyceride levels were more than 50% lower in rats fed the okara diets compared to those fed the control diet. Enzyme activities of fatty acid synthesis were significantly lowered by the okara diet. Fecal weight was significantly higher in the okara group than in the control group, and fecal excretion of steroids tended to be higher. Therefore, a relatively low amount of okara may exert hypotriglyceridemic action in rats in part through decreased hepatic triglyceride synthesis. The present study also suggests an involvement of intestinal events in altered lipid metabolism in rats fed the okara diets.

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Circadian rhythms control aspects of physiological events, including lipid metabolism, showing rhythmic fluctuation over 24 h. Therefore, it is not sufficient to evaluate thoroughly how dietary components regulate lipid metabolism with a single time-point assay. In the present study, a time-course study was performed to analyze the effect of sea cucumber saponin echinoside A (EA) on lipid metabolism over 24 h. Results showed that EA lowered the levels of TC and TG in both serum and liver at most time-points during the 24 h. Activities of hepatic lipogenic enzymes and lipolytic enzymes were inhibited and elevated respectively by EA to varied degrees at different time-points. Meanwhile, parallel variation trends of gene expression involved in fatty acid synthesis and β-oxidation were observed accordingly. The interaction between EA and lipid metabolism showed a time-dependent effect. Overall, EA impaired fatty acid synthesis and enhanced mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation in ad libitum feeding over 24 h.

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Proinflammatory cytokines contribute to the progression of muscle wasting caused by ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent proteolysis. We have previously demonstrated that isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, prevent TNF-α-induced muscle atrophy in C2C12 myotubes. In this study, we examined the effect of dietary flavonoids on the wasting of muscle. Mice were divided into the following four groups: vehicle-injected (control) mice fed the normal diet (CN); tumor-bearing mice fed the normal diet (TN); control mice fed the isoflavone diet (CI); and tumor-bearing mice fed the isoflavone diet (TI). There were no significant differences in the intake of food or body weight gain among these four groups. The wet weight and myofiber size of gastrocnemius muscle in TN significantly decreased, compared with those in CN. Interestingly, the wet weight and myofiber size of gastrocnemius muscle in TI were nearly the same as those in CN and CI, although isoflavone supplementation did not affect the increased tumor mass or concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6, in the blood. Moreover, increased expression of muscle-specific ubiquitin ligase genes encoding MAFbx/Atrogin-1 and MuRF1 in the skeletal muscle of TN was significantly inhibited by the supplementation of isoflavones. In parallel with the expression of muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases, dietary isoflavones significantly suppressed phosphorylation of ERK in tumor-bearing mice. These results suggest that dietary isoflavones improve muscle wasting in tumor-bearing mice via the ERK signaling pathway mediated-suppression of ubiquitin ligases in muscle cells.

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Recent epidemiological studies show that antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids might be beneficial to the maintenance of bone health. Recently, we found that serum carotenoids were inversely associated with the risk of developing osteoporosis in post-menopausal Japanese female subjects. However, little is known about the vitamin alone and/or the combination of the vitamin and carotenoid with the risk of osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to investigate longitudinally whether antioxidant vitamins and their combination with carotenoids are associated with the risk of developing of osteoporosis. We conducted a follow-up study on 187 post-menopausal female subjects from the Mikkabi prospective cohort study. Those who participated in previous bone mineral density (BMD) surveys and completed four years of follow-up were examined longitudinally. During a four-year follow-up, fifteen of the post-menopausal female subjects developed new-onset osteoporosis. After adjustment for confounders, the odds ratios (OR) for osteoporosis in the highest tertiles of vitamins C and E and retinol intakes against the lowest tertiles were 0.15 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.02-0.99), 0.50 (CI: 0.08-3.23), and 1.49 (CI: 0.36-6.22), respectively. Furthermore, a significantly lower odds ratio was observed in the higher vitamin C intake group (169-625 mg/d) with higher serum β-cryptoxanthin (1.88-10.53 μM) against the lower vitamin C intake group (47-168 mg/d) with lower serum β-cryptoxanthin (0.24-1.84 μM) used for the reference group (p<0.05). The combination of β-cryptoxanthin and vitamin C is inversely associated with the risk of developing osteoporosis in post-menopausal Japanese female subjects.

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Inhibitors of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes play an important role in controlling postprandial blood glucose levels. Thus the effect of persimmon tannin on pancreatic α-amylase and intestinal α-glucosidase has been investigated. Persimmon tannin inhibits pancreatic α-amylase and intestinal α-glucosidase in a concentration-dependent manner with the 50% inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) for amylase, maltase and sucrase being 1.7 μg/mL, 632 μg/mL and 308 μg/mL, respectively. The effect of persimmon-tannin extract on carbohydrate absorption in rats has also been investigated. Oral administration of persimmon tannin to normal rats fed cornstarch (2 g/kg body weight) significantly suppressed the increase in blood glucose levels and the area under the curve (AUC) after starch loading in a dose-dependent manner. The effective dose of persimmon tannin required to achieve 50% suppression of the rise in blood glucose level was estimated to be 300 mg/kg body weight. Administration of persimmon tannin to rats fed maltose or sucrose delayed the increase of blood glucose level and slightly suppressed AUC, but not significantly. These results suggest that persimmon tannin retards absorption of carbohydrate and reduces post-prandial hyperglycemia mainly through inhibition of α-amylase.

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The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Enzyme-Treated Asparagus Extract (ETAS) on improving stress response. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial was undertaken in healthy volunteers. ETAS (150 mg/d) or a placebo was consumed for 28 d, with a washout period. Psychological parameters were examined using a self-report scale questionnaire and psychological stress was applied using the Uchida-Kraepelin (U-K) test. During the stress load, autonomic nervous function was analyzed. After the stress load, a profile of mood states (POMS) psychological rating was performed, and serum cortisol, plasma catecholamine, salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), and salivary cortisol were analyzed. ETAS intake improved the self-reported rating for the items “Feel tired,” “Hard to get up,” and “Feel heavy” in the psychological questionnaire; ameliorated the self-reported rating for the items “Depression-Dejection” and “Fatigue” in the POMS questionnaire; and increased salivary sIgA levels after the U-K test. In contrast, serum and salivary cortisol levels, and plasma catecholamine did not change. During the U-K test, ETAS significantly upregulated the sympathetic nerve activity. Furthermore, ETAS intake significantly increased the number of answers and the number of correct answers in the U-K test, suggesting that it might improve office work performance with swiftness and accuracy under stressful conditions. In conclusion, ETAS supplementation reduced feelings of dysphoria and fatigue, ameliorated quality of sleep, and enhanced stress-load performance as well as promoted stress response by increasing salivary sIgA levels. These data suggest ETAS intake may exert beneficial effects, resulting from well-controlled stress management, in healthy individuals.

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Lily bulb is traditionally consumed in East Asia and contains high amounts of glucomannan. This study investigated the effect of dietary lily bulb on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in rats fed a high-fat (HF) diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet containing 30% beef tallow with or without 7% steamed lily bulb powder for 17 d. Experimental colitis was induced by replacing drinking water with DSS during the last 7 d. The disease activity index (DAI) was significantly lower in the lily bulb+DSS group than in the DSS group on day 17. The fecal abundance of Bifidobacterium was significantly reduced in the DSS group compared with that in the control group, but it was recovered by lily bulb intake. Cecal butyrate, fecal mucins, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity were significantly higher in the DSS group than in the control group. Dietary lily bulb potentiated the increase in cecal butyrate, fecal mucins, and the ALP activity caused by DSS treatment. These results indicate that lily bulb attenuates DSS-induced colitis by modulating colonic microflora, organic acids, mucins, and ALP activity in HF diet-fed rats.

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