Bioactives in meat: biological activities in relation to obesity and associated metabolic disturbances

Abstract

[eng] Objective: When we think on bioactive compounds, foods that first come to our minds are vegetables and fruits; however, meat and meat products also contain bioactive compounds. The aim of this thesis is to identify main bioactive compounds that can be found in fish and meat and review evidence that these compounds could help to prevent obesity and/or obesity-related diseases. Methodology: First, I did some literature review on the bioactive compounds in meat and meat products. Secondly, I used MedLine to analyze a number of scientific experiments that show a relationship between obesity and related disturbances and specific bioactives in meat and meat products in humans, animal models and cell culture systems. Then I generated the tables to demonstrate the link between the bioactive compounds and obesity. Finally, I searched for the EFSA claims. Conclusion: • Taurine: Studies on humans and animals show that taurine decreases body weight, ameliorates glucose and lipid metabolism • Alpha lipoic acid: Studies both on humans and animals indicate that alpha lipoic acid decreases body weight, regulates lipid and glucose metabolism and decreases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease • L-Carnitine: There is a limited amount of studies on L-Carnitine that concentrate on the effect on body weight and composition. The studies on humans are limited and the results obtained from the studies on animals are contradictory; for instance, some of them show L-carnitine has a positive effect on body weight while others indicate it does not have any effect on it • Coenzyme Q10: Studies on animals indicate that coenzyme Q10 inhibits adipogenesis, induces body weight loss and decreases the development of cardiovascular diseases. • Carnosine: Limited studies indicate that carnosine regulates glucose homeostasis in both humans and animals.