Ganoderma lucidum extract can treat obesity

Recently, a study from Taiwan's Changgeng University showed that ganoderma extract, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years, can prevent weight gain and reverse obesity related inflammation and metabolic disorders in overweight mice The findings, published in the June 23 issue of nature communications, provide further evidence of Ganoderma's ancient reputation for promoting longevity and digestive health Maybe Alice in Wonderland will become a reality, eating a little mushroom will make her shrink Recently, a study from Taiwan's Changgeng University showed that ganoderma extract, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years, can prevent weight gain and reverse obesity related inflammation and metabolic disorders in overweight mice Extended reading: coffee compounds can prevent obesity related diseases Ganoderma lucidum is the fruiting body of the porous fungus Ganoderma lucidum Traditional Chinese medicine has long regarded it as a precious Chinese herbal medicine for nourishing and strengthening the body This study found that Ganoderma lucidum can change the unhealthy microbial mixture in the intestinal tract of obese mice (obese through high-fat diet), so as to prevent weight gain The study, published in the June 23 issue of the journal Nature communications, provides further evidence of Ganoderma's ancient reputation for promoting longevity and digestive health But the study also shows that gut microbes seem to play a powerful role in obesity and some related diseases Scientists are still not sure which comes first - obesity or an unbalanced gut flora But researchers are increasingly convinced that prebiotics and probiotics - foods or supplements - can trigger the growth of protective bacteria in the gut and may help prevent the adverse effects of overeating on health This latest study further confirms a relatively new theory: insulin resistance and high levels of systemic inflammation, which are often seen in obese people, are partly due to the decline of intestinal bacterial populations These beneficial bacteria, like an army guarding a permeable border, prevent toxins produced by other gut bacteria from seeping through the gut walls Over a two-month period, mice fed a high-fat diet supplemented with daily doses of ganoderma extract retained a robust "guard" flora and showed low levels of inflammation in the blood Obese mice without ganoderma extract developed insulin resistance and high levels of inflammation There were many differences between mice fed a high-fat diet supplemented with ganoderma extract and mice not supplemented with ganoderma extract Two months later, mice fed only a high-fat diet became obese, had fatty livers, and accumulated large amounts of visceral and subcutaneous fat Although the consumption was the same, the mice supplemented with the highest dose of ganoderma extract had almost the same weight and approximately the same level of fatty liver as those fed regularly after the two-month overfeeding period Compared with the regular feeding mice, the visceral fat and subcutaneous fat of the mice fed with ganoderma extract increased, but it was much lower than that of the other mice fed with high-fat diet but without ganoderma extract The researchers also provided evidence that the protective effect of ganoderma extract was one of its effects on the intestinal bacterial mixture of mice: they conducted a population survey and found that compared with obese mice, the mice supplemented with ganoderma extract had more intestinal Bacteroides and fewer sclerenchyma populations, which is a unique combination of bacteria in the gut of normal mice 。 When they transferred the feces of mice supplemented with Ganoderma lucidum extract to obese mice without the extract, the microbial population of obese mice changed Members of the family ganodermaceae are large, dark and glossy It is mainly collected in the field Since the 1970s, it has been cultivated in Asia to meet the large demand of the pharmaceutical market Fermentation seems to improve the production of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide In this study, the author points out that polysaccharide is the main active component in the extract to prevent obesity and related diseases Although this new discovery is promising, it is not enough to use Ganoderma lucidum as a treatment for obesity Animal experiments are the first step to show its therapeutic potential However, compared with overfeeded mice in the laboratory, human obesity is more complex How many doses of ganoderma extract can be used safely and effectively is still uncertain.