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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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03.10.2013 |
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Animal study: weight loss a cinch with apple pulp
Apple pulp is an excellent source of phenols. The composition of the stuff varies according to the variety of apple and the production process they have undergone. The table below comes from a publication by Serbian food technologists. [Food Chemistry 2008, 109(2):340-347.]
The apple pulp that the Koreans used consisted of 1.539 g phenols per 100 g. That's a lot. Super foods like blueberries and cherries contain 0.671 and 0.430 g polyphenols per 100g respectively.
The Koreans were interested to know whether the addition of apple pulp to the diet would have health enhancing effects, so they put freeze-dried pulp in rats' food. The pulp consisted of 20.1 percent water, 74.3 percent carbohydrates and 11 percent fibre. Each 100 g of the rats' food contained 10 g pulp.
A second control group received the calorie-rich food only for the same period [HFD]. One experimental group was given food containing a concentrate made from apple juice [AC] from week five; the other experimental group was given food containing apple pulp [AP]. We'll ignore the AC group from now on.
The apple pulp inhibited the rats' weight increase. At the end of the experiment the rats in the apple pulp group actually weighed the same as the rats in the ND group.
The tables above give an indication of how apple pulp causes weight loss. The rats started to eat less and the feed efficiency ratio [FER] went down. This was to a large extent because the rats excreted more fat in their faeces as a result of the apple pulp.
Despite their calorie-rich diet, the apple pulp supplement meant that the rats only had the same amount of fat tissue as the rats that had had a normal diet at the end of the experiment.
The Koreans suggest that more research should be done on how apple pulp enhances weight loss. We suspect that phenols from apples not only reduce fat uptake – which is no doubt due to the inhibition of lipase enzymes – but also boost metabolism and improve the body's fat burning capacity.
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