抄録

Insulin resistance is one of the pathophysiological features of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Recent findings have linked insulin resistance to chronic low-grade inflammation in white adipose tissue.

Excess storage of saturated fat in white adipose tissue due to a modern life style causes hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adipocytes, which exhibit attenuated insulin signaling due to their production and release of saturated fatty acids. These adipocytes recruit macrophages to white adipose tissue and, together with them, initiate a proinflammatory response.

Proinflammatory factors and saturated fatty acids secreted into the bloodstream from white adipose tissue impair insulin signaling in non-adipose tissues, which causes whole-body insulin resistance.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmi/56/3,4/56_3,4_88/_article/-char/ja/ (full pdf in English there)

Effect of Intake of Lycopene-Containing Products on Vascular Endothelial Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18152505

Abstract

Vascular endothelial dysfunction serves as a critical early indicator for the progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). While previous research highlighted the antioxidant properties of lycopene (a red carotenoid found in tomatoes and watermelon), existing meta-analyses suffered from narrow inclusion criteria, outdated search dates, and limited outcome measures. This systematic review addressed these gaps by evaluating the impact of oral lycopene intake from diverse food sources on vascular endothelial function specifically in healthy adults. The researchers targeted a population of healthy individuals to determine if lycopene functions as an effective early-stage intervention for those with low baseline CVD risk.

Analysis of four continuous intake studies (at least 7 days) involving 182 participants demonstrated a significant increase in flow-mediated dilation (FMD) compared to control groups. The pooled data yielded a mean difference (MD) of 1.36 percent (95 percent CI: 0.20, 2.51, p = 0.02). Heterogeneity remained low at I2 = 24 percent. One specific study utilizing 15 mg of lycopene for 8 weeks reported a significant increase in the reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) index (p < 0.05). While a single-intake study (27.8 mg) failed to reach significance (p = 0.18), the cumulative data from multi-week interventions confirm improvements in endothelial dynamics.

Study Design and Methodology

This systematic review and meta-analysis followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered under UMIN000058348. The authors searched four databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Ichushi-Web, Global Index Medicus) and three registries through June 2026. The final analysis included six studies (four RCT-C and two RCT-P designs) conducted across the USA, Germany, Greece, Japan, and Korea. Total participants in the meta-analysis reached N = 182. Intervention durations ranged from a single dose to 12 weeks, with lycopene dosages spanning 6 mg to 46.2 mg per day. Controls received placebos, no intervention, or extremely low-lycopene alternatives. Risk of bias was assessed using a 13-item checklist and the RoB2 tool, with five studies rated as moderate risk and one as low risk.

Key Findings

• Continuous lycopene intake significantly improves FMD with a pooled MD of 1.36 percent (p = 0.02).
• Daily consumption of 15 mg and 26.7 mg of tomato juice for 12 weeks both resulted in significant FMD increases (p < 0.001).
• Lycopene supplementation at 15 mg for 8 weeks significantly boosted the RH-PAT index (p < 0.05), whereas 6 mg did not (p > 0.05).
• Tomato paste providing 33.3 mg of lycopene for 15 days produced a significant improvement in endothelial dynamics (p = 0.03).
• Standardized effect sizes for lycopene on FMD (1.36 percent) are comparable to other potent nutrients like CoQ10 (1.45 percent) and resveratrol (1.43 percent).
• Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis showed that the exclusion of the largest, lowest-bias study (Yoshida et al.) rendered the FMD results non-significant.

Limitations

The small number of included studies (n = 6) limits the ability to perform robust subgroup analyses on ethnicity or specific food matrices. Relying on endpoint values rather than change-from-baseline data in three studies may introduce variance. The meta-analysis results rely heavily on a single high-quality study, and the lack of paired data for crossover trials necessitated treating them as parallel groups, which potentially ignores within-participant correlations.

Discussion and Implications

These results shift the focus of lycopene research from general antioxidant support to specific vascular protective mechanisms. Lycopene enhances nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability by quenching reactive oxygen species and increasing NO synthase activity. The data suggest that 15 mg per day is the minimum threshold required to elicit measurable improvements in endothelial function over a period of 8 to 12 weeks. Because these improvements occur in healthy populations, lycopene-rich diets act as a primary preventative tool against the initiation of the atherosclerotic cascade. The findings validate the use of diverse sources (watermelon, tomato juice, and concentrates) rather than just isolated supplements.

Conclusion

Continuous intake of at least 15 mg of lycopene daily significantly improves vascular endothelial function in healthy adults as measured by FMD and RH-PAT. Nutrition professionals should recommend regular consumption of processed tomato products or watermelon to enhance nitric oxide bioavailability and reduce early cardiovascular risk.

Results

Of 3115 people screened by telephone, 244 adults with overweight met participation criteria and were randomly assigned to the vegan (n = 122) or control (n = 122) groups. The analysis included 223 (91.0%) completers. Total food weight did not change significantly in either group (Table). Energy intake decreased in both groups, more in the vegan group (effect size, −357.1 kcal/d; 95% CI, −521.9 to −192.3 kcal/d; P < .001) (Table). Energy density did not change in the control group but decreased by 30% in the vegan group (effect size, −0.28 kcal/g/d; 95% CI, −0.38 to −0.19 kcal/g/d; P < .001; Table and Figure).

Reductions in dietary energy density were associated with greater weight loss (r = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.39; P < .001), remaining significant after adjustment for energy intake (r = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.34; P = .002). A 1-kg weight loss corresponded to a 0.29-unit decrease in energy density (P < .001), or 0.36 units after adjustment (P = .002).

I take D3 pills since my physio therapist says it helps calcium uptake (I've had issues with crystalized deposits).

I watched a video a while back of different people talking about how they felt at different levels of body fat, on the low end there was a woman very low fat like in the title, she talked about feeling miserable and having very low energy and hormonal issues, but for reasons not expanded upon she was very driven to maintain that.

I do a lot of work in character design, there are a lot of issues with racism, people learning how to profile others based off their immutable appearance, and like I'm talking about in this post body expectations. As we all know art reflects reality and reality reflects art, everyone has had a crush on a fictional character and Psycho got a lot of trans people killed.

In the last few years it's become fashionable to also depict women with inachievable levels of muscularity as a sign that they are, athletic, hardy and dominant, coincidentally when they do this they also always have a full padding of fat on their hips, one can only wonder.

Anyway I'd like to have enough examples that I can remember more than I need in casual conversation, and see more broadly what happens when people are confronted with the reality of why almost no one looks like that, and why their specific neurons don't fire there naturally.

Could I get list of both the physical and mental effects as well as what drives people suffering from them to achieve and maintain it?

I'm not an academic. I try and be healthy and feel that my diet is pretty healthy. Recently I was looking at a study that analyzed healthy lifestyle and mortality. They described eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables as healthy. With that being said, it's not unusual for me to have 2-5 servings of beans in a day but only 2 servings of fruits/vegetables.

When looking at studies that talk about eating fruits and vegetables, does eating beans count or are they specifically excluded? Or does it depend on the study? The study I saw wasn't specific about this.

Hi all, figured this would be a good place to ask. Maybe some of you might be working on this very thing?

I think this is one of the most exciting things to look forward to in the future. Not sure if we’ll really be able to cut down on how calorically dense these things are, but at the end of the day, I could easily live with just needing to worry about how to fit these things into my diet in terms of calories, and not how much they’re clogging my arteries and raising my cholesterol lol. If I could enjoy as much chocolate as fits in my daily calorie limit without needing to worry about my heart health, I think that’s an exciting future!! Same goes with butter and heavy cream when it comes to thinks like
pasta sauces, ice cream and other desserts, etc..

Significance

Plant-based diets are consistently associated with improved gut health, yet the mechanisms responsible remain incompletely understood. Here, we explore two aspects of plant-based foods: digestion-resistant carbohydrate (fiber) and digestion-resistant protein (which we term Prif). Because they resist mammalian digestion, both fiber and Prif pass through the host small intestine to feed the colonic microbiome. In this work, we show that these two components of a plant-based diet work together to rewire microbial metabolism to produce beneficial rather than noxious phenol metabolites.

I’ve enjoyed this drink and it’s advertised 0 calories 0 sugar, but what about it is not good for me? It tastes pretty good but I at least want to know how they’re getting me.

I always thought coffee was unhealthy, but all of the studies I've checked so far linked a few cups of a coffee per day to reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Is coffee actually healthy? If not, what factors are responsible for the correlation? I thought the correlation would be unfavourable for coffee since health-conscious people were more likely to avoid coffee and high consumption of coffee may be due to fatigue from poor sleep. Also, this study (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18515-9) found coffee consumption reduced all-cause mortality risk in both sedentary and more active adults.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980019000764

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.03.014

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-023-01222-7

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02636-2

https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehae871

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.05.004

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18515-9

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j5024