Acerola juice and obesity-related inflammation in mice
What it found
In obese mice, acerola juice reduced body fat, lowered blood triglycerides and eased signs of inflammation in fat tissue.
The study was in animals, not people.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Body fat
Mice on the cafeteria diet had more body fat than those on the standard diet. Those given acerola juice or vitamin C had less body fat than the cafeteria diet mice given water.
Blood triglycerides
Blood triglyceride levels rose in the cafeteria diet mice given water or vitamin C. Levels were lower in the mice given unripe, ripe or industrial acerola juice.
Inflammation signals
TNF-alpha, a protein linked to inflammation, was higher in the cafeteria diet mice given water. It was lower in all treated groups, including those given acerola juice or vitamin C.
Fat tissue proteins
Acerola juice led to lower levels of phosphorylated JNK and higher levels of phosphorylated I-kappa-B-alpha and HSLser660 in fat tissue. These changes suggest less inflammation and more fat breakdown.
Fat cell size
All cafeteria diet groups had larger fat cells than the standard diet group, regardless of treatment.
What the authors conclude
“Taken together, these results suggest that acerola juice reduces low-grade inflammation and ameliorates obesity-associated defects in the lipolytic processes.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say acerola juice reduces low-grade inflammation and improves the breakdown of fat that is faulty in obesity.
- They conclude that acerola juice prevents weight gain and dyslipidemia and restores metabolic and inflammatory pathways to a normal range.
- They call for more studies to understand the mechanisms behind these effects, especially in mice fed a cafeteria high-fat diet.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see how natural food components affect the inflammation and metabolism problems that come with obesity.
They fed 36 male mice either a standard diet or a cafeteria diet for 13 weeks. The cafeteria-fed mice were then split into five groups and given water, unripe acerola juice, ripe acerola juice, industrial acerola juice, or vitamin C for one more month.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a study in mice. It cannot show what happens in people.
- The mice were given acerola juice by gavage, not as part of a normal diet.
- The study lasted only one month of treatment after 13 weeks on a cafeteria diet.
The paper
- Title
- Acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) juice intake protects against alterations to proteins involved in inflammatory and lipolysis pathways in the adipose tissue of obese mice fed a cafeteria diet
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Dias FM, Leffa DD, Daumann F, et al (2014). Acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) juice intake protects against alterations to proteins involved in inflammatory and lipolysis pathways in the adipose tissue of obese mice fed a cafeteria diet. Lipids in health and disease. doi:10.1186/1476-511X-13-24Free full textPubMed 24495336DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error