(Medical Xpress)—Weight-gain warnings are especially uncomfortable during holiday seasons with all the oversized and double helpings of calorie-rich pies, creamy dips and savory holiday stuffings. Nonetheless, problems of obesity are real and pose serious health risks linked to medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and increased cancer risk. Researchers from China, with affiliations that include the Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, now suggest that the compound berberine (BBR), which comes from the Chinese medicinal plant Coptis chinensis, increases energy expenditure, limits weight gain, improves cold tolerance and enhances brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity in obese mice. Berberine could be a factor in treating obesity. This medicinal Chinese plant might contribute to those who seek such support. Their paper, "Berberine activates thermogenesis in white and brown adipose tissue," was published Tuesday in Nature Communications.
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