MILAN – A new study out of China suggests caffeine could play a major role in weight loss by targeting a ‘lazy’ part of an obese subject’s brain.
The report by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, released today, detailed how obese mice were less hungry and more active after being dosed with caffeine.
Caffeine interacted with a part of the brain known as the adenosine receptor, which regulated the body’s energy balance and hunger, the report found.
Mice who were obese were hyperphagic — or abnormally hungry and prone to excessive eating — and had a glucose intolerance.
And it seemed their significant weight had resulted in unusual activity in the brain.
But after being given caffeine, their appetites were dramatically suppressed and they began to exercise more, leading to weight loss, the study stated.
“Two-week caffeine treatment significantly reduced the body weights of diet-induced obese mice,” it stated.
Fat cells were much smaller in size and glucose tolerance was also improved.
“To (examine) the causes of peripheral caffeine treatment-induced body weight reduction, we measured the food intake and energy expenditure. We found that (giving the mice caffeine) significantly reduced food intakes and increased the wheel-running activities of (obese) mice.”
There have been previous observations of caffeine’s contribution to weight loss but the mechanism remained unknown.
The new study sheds light on how the drug could assist in tackling obesity, but it’s early days.
Mice were given the human equivalent of 30 cups of coffee, so it won’t be the next diet fad just yet, scientists warn.
Researchers have shifted their focus to weight and diet in recent years, as developed nations witness rapid increases in obesity.
In 2015, a staggering 63 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese, presenting an eight per cent increase from 1995.
Data released last December found South Australia had the highest proportion of overweight and obese Australians at 73.3 per cent. It was followed closely by western NSW (71 per cent).
Even the nation’s healthiest regions still had populations where more than half of people were overnight or obese.
