The Preventive Effect of Brazilian Propolis on Metabolic / 日本補完代替医療学会誌

Objective: To show the preventive effect of Brazilian propolis on metabolic syndrome.Methods: Nine Brazilian propolis were examined for inhibition ofα-glucosidase, absorption of sugar in mice, and lipid accumulation, glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and adiponection production in mouse 3T3-L1 cells.Results: In nine Brazilian propolis, AF-06, AF-19, and AFG-06 propolis inhibited rat internal α-glucosidase, and AF-06 propolis inhibited the absorption of sugar in mice. In 3T3-L1 cells, AF-06 and AF-08 propolis inhibited accumulation lipid, and inhibited glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.Conclusion: Brazilian propolis AF-06 and AF-08 are natural products which offer promise in the prevention of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Incorporating dietary supplements into a treatment plan with medicines with similar effects requires further study.

Red Koji (Red Mold Rice) for Complementary and Alternative Medicine as well as for Health Conditioning / 日本補完代替医療学会誌

Red koji has been used for a variety of fermentation food such as sake from old in China and South Korea, etc. and it has also been used from a Ryukyu dynasty for Tufuyo, a traditional bean curd food preparation in Okinawa in Japan, and “Red koji color (Monascus color)” extracted from Red koji is widespread as natural colorant.<br> Recently, lovastatin (Monacolin K) that has the hypocholesterolemic activity is discovered from a part of Red koji, though statins are prescription medicines used now for about 30 million people all over the world to decrease LDL-cholesterol that is the risk factor that causes atherosclerosis, and moreover the Red koji that contains this natural statin becomes available for the processed food such as dietary supplement, and it is expected a beneficial use in the primary care of the lifestyle disease by the eating habits improvement. In this paper, we would like to clarify the history as the food of Red koji, the active ingredients as the functional food material and the mechanism, the effectiveness and safety, including the clinical trial results such as improvement of lipid metabolism, and also introduce the probability as the beneficial material for complementary and alternative medicine as well as for dietary supplement in health conditioning and the prevention of the lifestyle disease.<br>

Lifestyle Modification and Diet

Prospective studies on different components and principles of nutrition demonstrate a significant influence of diet on the development of coronary artery disease, sudden death and some cancers. A nationwide improvement in life style could result in a significant decrease in health care expenditures and could also have an important role in preventing or delaying life style disease.

Morbidities from Lack of Exercise and the Socioeconomic Effects

Lack of exercise may be one of the main causes of obesity in the recent modernized society. With the rapid increase of obese population worldwide, the economic costs of overweight have become a great burden in many countries. The costs of obesity may be divided into the direct costs to the health system and the indirect or social costs to the individuals and the community (for example, sick days and individuals' expenditure on weight loss). The direct costs depend on the main part of the diseases caused by obesity and the cost of these diseases. Some diseases thathave been included in the calculation are Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, endometrial cancer, arthritis and colorectal cancer. One of the problems in this assessment is the relative risk of the diseases in different communities and ethnic groups. Several methods have been used to calculate these costs and produceda wide range of results from different countries. One of the latest estimates ofcosts of obesity is from the United States and was 10.2% of the total health care cost. Little data is yet available in Asian countries; however, the Korean Obesity Society reported a total cost of obesity estimated at about 0.11 % of GDP or about 2.13% of the total health care cost. It is now necessary to develop a strategy for life style modifications at the nationwide level.