We all know how an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away – now it seems the same is true for tangerines.According to research, eating the fruit could protect against heart attacks, diabetes and stroke as well as staving off obesity.
Nobiletin, a pigment found in tangerine peel, is ten times more potent than a similar one derived from grapefruit.
Researchers from the University of Western Ontario, in Canada, fed two groups of mice a diet high in fats and simple sugars, reports the journal Diabetes.
The first group became obese and showed signs related to metabolic syndrome – elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood levels of insulin and glucose and a fatty liver – all of which increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
However the second group, which had Nobiletin added to its food, gained a normal amount of weight and showed no rise in cholesterol, insulin or glucose.
They were also more sensitive to insulin and their livers were found to be less fatty.
Lead researcher Dr Murray Huff said: ‘The Nobiletin-treated mice were protected from obesity.
‘And in longer-term studies, Nobiletin also protected these animals from atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque in arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
