By Margie King

Excerpt from Nutrition Examiner

You might think that tangerines are just a great treat but new research shows that they also have potent health effects.  Researchers from The University of Western Ontario have discovered that a substance in tangerines not only helps to prevent obesity, but also protects against type 2 diabetes, and even atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of most heart attacks and strokes.

According to the research published in the journal Diabetes, the secret ingredient is a flavonoid known as nobiletin. 

To study the effects of nobiletin on metabolic syndrome in humans, researchers fed mice a “western” diet high in fats and simple sugars. One group of the mice became obese and showed all the signs associated with metabolic syndrome: elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood levels of insulin and glucose, and a fatty liver. These metabolic abnormalities greatly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

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