Acidic activated charcoal produced from Shinshu Ina Akamatsu tree (red pine) prevents weight gain and insulin resistance in high-fat diet mice, which has been published in the "Frontiers in Nutrition"

With the westernization of eating habits, the proportion of obese people is increasing all over the world. Obesity is an urgent issue because obesity is a risk factor leading to various diseases such as diabetes, fatty liver and dyslipidemia. Making charcoal has been widely popular in Shinshu for a long time, and activated charcoal made with such technology is also used for deodorization and water purification. Professor TANAKA Naoki, Department of Global Medical Research Promotion, Shinshu University, and the research teams of Ina Carbonization Laboratory Co., Ltd. (Ina, Japan) and Sumi Plus Lab Co., Ltd. (Yokohama, Japan) continue to research the application of charcoal produced from Akamatsu, a specialty from the area to medical health. The research team suspected that edible activated charcoal would also absorb excess fat in the diet. This research clarified that acidic activated charcoal produced from Shinshu Ina's specialty the Akamatsu tree (red pine) prevents weight gain and insulin resistance of mice due to high-fat diet. The result was published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition on May 12, 2022.

When mice were given a normal diet and a high-fat diet for 12 weeks each, the mice fed the high-fat diet gained significantly more weight than the normal diet. On the other hand, when acidic activated charcoal was mixed with a high-fat diet and given to mice in the same manner, the degree of weight gain was almost the same as that of a normal diet, meaning the weight gain due to the high-fat diet was completely suppressed. When acidic activated charcoal is administered with a high-fat diet, the amount of bile acid, cholesterol, triglyceride, and fatty acid in the stool increases about 2 to 4 times as much as when the regular high-fat diet is administered. It is thought to promote excretion into the stool. No damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa or lungs due to acidic activated charcoal was observed.

This research revealed that acidic activated charcoal made by processing Shinshu Ina Akamatsu prevents weight gain and insulin resistance by high-fat diet in mice. Taking acidic activated charcoal with fatty foods or before eating may prevent weight gain. Based on the knowledge gained from this research, the group hopes to promote the development of acidic activated charcoal with better efficacy and safety while collaborating with local and global companies, hoping to contribute to the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases around the world.

Journal: Frontiers in Nutrition 2022 May 12;9:852767. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.852767.

Title: Acidic Activated Charcoal Prevents Obesity and Insulin Resistance in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

Author: Xuguang Zhang, Pan Diao, Hiroaki Yokoyama, Yoshiki Inoue, Kazuhiro Tanabe, Xiaojing Wang, Chihiro Hayashi, Tomoki Yokoyama, Zhe Zhang, Xiao Hu, Takero Nakajima, Takefumi Kimura, Jun Nakayama, Makoto Nakamuta, Naoki Tanaka* (*corresponding author)

The URL is→　https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.852767/full

EurekAlert →　https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/958925