Scientists at the University of Michigan have conducted a study that shows the process that allows cinnamon to burn body fat to lose weight.

Health

Here’s how cinnamon helps you burn body fat and lose weight

Written by Sandra Arteaga

Scientists at the University of Michigan have conducted a study that shows the process that allows cinnamon to burn body fat to lose weight.

A team of scientists from the University of Michigan (United States) has conducted a study that shows the process that allows cinnamon to burn body fat to lose weight.

Cinnamon is a very appreciated spice in different cultures. Besides giving flavor to the preparations, it has several health benefits. Cinnamaldehyde, an essential oil found in cinnamon, has been linked to weight loss and other positive effects, such as protection against hyperglycemia, improved learning and helps to fight Parkinson’s disease, in addition to giving cinnamon its characteristic taste.

Now, the new research delves deeper into why cinnamon protects against obesity, a link that has been demonstrated in previous studies, which found that cinnamaldehyde affects metabolism.

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With this in mind, the team thought that cinnamaldehyde might have properties to trigger the activation of thermogenesis in fat cells. To carry out the new work, they collected adipocytes from human volunteers of different ages, ethnicities and body mass index.

Adipocytes are fat cells in the body that store energy in the form of fatty acids known as lipids. This mechanism has been very useful for our ancestors, who had limited access to foods rich in fats and therefore needed to store it for use when necessary.

“It is only relatively recently that the energy surplus has become a problem,” says Jun Wu, the study’s director. “Throughout evolution, the opposite energy deficiency has been the problem. Therefore, any process that consumes energy is usually deactivated at a time when the body doesn’t need it.”.

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After obtaining the adipocytes from the participants, the scientists treated them with cinnamaldehyde. They were able to observe that they began to express a greater number of genes and enzymes that increase lipid metabolism, so that the fat cells burned energy instead of storing it. In addition, the treatment also increased metabolic regulatory proteins involved in thermogenesis within adipocytes.

Although the findings are promising, more research is needed to study how to get the full benefits of cinnamaldehyde and avoid unwanted side effects that may occur.

[Source: University of Michigan]