It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
The lipids in some herbal teas have been identified in detail for the first time, preparing the ground for investigating their contribution to the health benefits of the teas.
Herbal teas are enjoyed worldwide, not only for their taste and refreshment but also for a wide range of reputed health benefits. But the potential significance of a category of compounds called lipids in the teas has been relatively unexplored. Researchers at Hokkaido University, led by Associate Professor Siddabasave Gowda and Professor Shu-Ping Hui of the Faculty of Health Sciences, have now identified 341 different molecular species from five categories of lipids in samples of four types of herbal tea. They published their results in the journal Food Chemistry.
Lipids are a diverse collection of natural substances that share the property of being insoluble in water. They include all of the fats and oils that are common constituents of many foods, but they have generally not been examined as significant components of teas.
The Hokkaido team selected four teas for their initial analysis: dokudami (Houttuynia cordata, fish mint), kumazasa (Sasa veitchii), sugina (Equisetum arvense, common horsetail) and yomogi (Artemisia princeps, Japanese mugwort).
“These herbs are native to Japan and have been widely consumed as tea from ancient times due to their medicinal properties,” says Gowda. The medicinal benefits attributed to these and other herbal teas include antioxidant, antiglycation, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-allergic, anticarcinogenic, antithrombotic, vasodilatory, antimutagenic, and anti-aging effects.
The lipids in the teas were separated and identified by combining two modern analytical techniques called high-performance liquid chromatography and linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry.
The analysis revealed significant variations in the lipids in the four types of tea, with each type containing some known bioactive lipids. These included a distinct category of lipids called short-chain fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (SFAHFAs), some of which had never previously been found in plants. SFAHFAs detected in tea could be a novel source of short-chain fatty acids, which are essential metabolites for maintaining gut health.
“The discovery of these novel SFAHFAs opens new avenues for research,” says Hui, adding that the lipid concentrations found in the teas are at levels that could be expected to have significant nutritional and medical effects in consumers.
The lipids discovered also included α-linolenic acid, already known for its anti-inflammatory properties, and arachidonic acid which has been associated with a variety of health benefits. These two compounds are examples of a range of poly-unsaturated fatty acids found in the teas, a category of lipids that are well-known for their nutritional benefits.
“Our initial study paves the way for further exploration of the role of lipids in herbal teas and their broad implications for human health and nutrition,” Gowda concludes. “We now want to expand our research to characterize the lipids in more than 40 types of herbal tea in the near future.”
Separation and analysis revealed the lipid profiles of four herbal teas.
(Lipsa Rani Nath, et al. Food Chemistry. March 4, 2024)
CREDIT
Lipsa Rani Nath, et al. Food Chemistry. March 4, 2024
CREDIT: ELIZABETH POINDEXTER, THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AT UNC-CHAPEL HILL, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)
In a new study, researchers found that the microbes in kombucha tea make changes to fat metabolism in the intestines of a model worm species that are similar to the effects of fasting. Robert Dowen at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues, present these findings March 28 in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Kombucha is a sweetened, fermented tea beverage that has surged in popularity recently, in part due to its supposed health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, preventing cancer and protecting against metabolic disease and liver toxins. These benefits are believed to come from the drink’s probiotic microbes and their effects on metabolism, but the associated health claims have not been well studied in humans.
Dowen’s team investigated how microbes from kombucha tea impact metabolism by feeding them to the model nematode worm C. elegans. The researchers found that the yeast and bacteria colonize the worms’ intestines and create metabolic changes similar to those that occur during fasting. The microbes alter the expression of genes involved in fat metabolism, leading to more proteins that break down fats and fewer proteins that build a type of fat molecule called triglycerides. Together, these changes reduce fat stores in the worms.
The new results provide insights into how probiotics in kombucha tea reshape metabolism in a model worm species, and offer hints to how these microbes may be impacting human metabolism. It’s important to remember that more research is required to provide evidence that humans consuming kombucha experience similar effects as the C. elegans model studied here—but these findings appear consistent with the reported human health benefits of kombucha, note the authors, and could inform the use of the beverage in complementary healthcare approaches in the future.
The authors add: “We were surprised to find that animals consuming a diet consisting of the probiotic microbes found in Kombucha Tea displayed reduced fat accumulation, lower triglyceride levels, and smaller lipid droplets - an organelle that stores the cell’s lipids - when compared to other diets. These findings suggest that the microbes in Kombucha Tea trigger a “fasting-like” state in the host even in the presence of sufficient nutrients.”
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In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Genetics:
Funding: This work was supported by NIGMS grant T32GM007092 to R.N.D., NCCIH grant F31AT012138 to R.N.D., and NIGMS grant R35GM137985 to R.H.D. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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