Source: Medical News Today Last week it was reported that strawberries may help treat throat cancer, now a new study shows how blueberries may aid in curbing obesity. Plant polyphenols have been shown to fight adipogenesis, which is the development of fat cell, and induce lipolysis, which is the breakdown of lipids and fat. The study was done to evaluate whether blueberry polyphenols play a role in adipocyte differentiation, the process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires specialized features of an adipocyte, an animal connective tissue cell specialized for the synthesis and storage of fat. Polyphenols occur in all plant foods and contribute to the beneficial health effects of vegetables and fruit. Their contribution to the antioxidant capacity of the human diet is much larger than that of vitamins. The total intake in a person's diet could amount to 1 gram a day, whereas combined intakes of beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E from food most often is about 100 mg a day. Phenolic acids account for about one third of the total intake of polyphenols in our diet, and flavonoids account for the remaining two thirds. Flavonoids are further subdivided into several categories. Shiwani Moghe, a graduate student at Texas Woman's University said: "The promise is there for blueberries to help reduce adipose tissue from forming in the body I wanted to see if using blueberry polyphenols could inhibit obesity at a molecular stage. We still need to test this dose in humans, to make sure there are [...]