Blueberries may help fight obesity

WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- Eating blueberries may help keep fat off because they fight the development of fat cells, a U.S. researcher suggests.

Shiwani Moghe, a graduate student at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas, said the study used tissue cultures from mice.

"I wanted to see if using blueberry polyphenols could inhibit obesity at a molecular stage," Moghe says in a statement. "The lipid (fat) content in the control group was significantly higher than the content of the tissue given three doses of blueberry polyphenols."

The findings, presented at the Experimental Biology meeting for the American Society for Nutrition in Washington, said the cultures that received the highest dose of blueberry polyphenols yielded a 73 percent decrease in lipids and the lowest dose had a 27 percent decrease.

"We still need to test this dose in humans, to make sure there are no adverse effects, and to see if the doses are as effective," Moghe said. "This is a burgeoning area of research. Determining the best dose for humans will be important. The promise is there for blueberries to help reduce adipose tissue from forming in the body."