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GABA: body fat inhibitor and insulin booster
You can find capsules of gamma-aminobutyric acid [GABA] in almost every supplements shop. GABA promotes sleep and is a growth hormone enhancer, but GABA supplements can also help obese people to stay healthy. According to researchers at the University of California Los Angeles, GABA inhibits the increase in fat reserves that otherwise happens if you eat more calories than you burn. This is because GABA makes your cells more sensitive to insulin.
GABA
The more body fat you have, the less sensitive your cells are to insulin. This is primarily because large fat deposits are subject to inflammation, as a result of which they secrete substances that sabotage the functioning of insulin. The researchers already published an animal study in 2004 in which they had shown that GABA [structural formula shown above] inhibits this process. [J Immunol. 2004 Oct 15;173(8):5298-304.]
Study
In another animal study, published in PLoS One in 2011, the researchers fattened mice for 20 weeks by putting them on a high fat diet [HFD]. Half of the animals were also given GABA in their drinking water.
The human equivalent of the dose they used was 800-1200 mg GABA daily.
Results
Supplementation with GABA did not reduce food intake, but did reduce weight increase. In the body the GABA supplementation inhibited the growth of fat reserves.
When the researchers gave their lab animals glucose and insulin, the glucose disappeared more quickly from the blood of the mice that had been given GABA. This implies that GABA boosted the mice's sensitivity to insulin.
The fat tissue of the GABA mice contained fewer immune cells than that of the mice in the other group. That means that the inflammations in the fat tissue were less strong. GABA probably works via the immune system.
At the end of the 20 weeks the researchers gave their mice a standard diet again, but continued the supplementation. The body weight and glucose level stabilised in the GABA group, but deteriorated in the other group.
Conclusion
"Given that GABA mainly acts on the peripheral GABA receptors and is safe for human consumption, GABA and other GABAA-R agonists may be valuable for the prevention and treatment of obesity and type-2 diabetes mellitus in the clinic", the researchers conclude.
Jide Tian, the first author of the study and Daniel Kaufman, head of the research are convinced. So convinced that they have patented the method they discovered. [EP 2621282 A2.]
Source:
PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e25338.
More:
13-OXO-ODA, esculeoside-A and GABA in tomato juice reduce menopause symptoms 05.08.2015
Animal study: acerola (contains GABA) inhibits growth of fat tissue 20.03.2015
GABA quadruples post-training GH production 09.06.2010
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