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Review
. 2024 Apr 20:8:100741.
doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2024.100741. eCollection 2024.

Coffee, tea, and cocoa in obesity prevention: Mechanisms of action and future prospects

Qian Wang  1 , Gui-Lin Hu  2 , Ming-Hua Qiu  2 , Jun Cao  3 , Wen-Yong Xiong  1
Affiliations
Review

Coffee, tea, and cocoa in obesity prevention: Mechanisms of action and future prospects

Qian Wang et al. Curr Res Food Sci. .

Abstract

Obesity, a major public health problem, causes numerous complications that threaten human health and increase the socioeconomic burden. The pathophysiology of obesity is primarily attributed to lipid metabolism disorders. Conventional anti-obesity medications have a high abuse potential and frequently deliver insufficient efficacy and have negative side-effects. Hence, functional foods are regarded as effective alternatives to address obesity. Coffee, tea, and cocoa, three widely consumed beverages, have long been considered to have the potential to prevent obesity, and several studies have focused on their intrinsic molecular mechanisms in past few years. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which the bioactive ingredients in these three beverages counteract obesity from the aspects of adipogenesis, lipolysis, and energy expenditure (thermogenesis). The future prospects and challenges for coffee, tea, and cocoa as functional products for the treatment of obesity are also discussed, which can be pursued for future drug development and prevention strategies against obesity.

Keywords: Adipocyte; Adipogenesis; Functional foods; Lipid metabolism; Thermogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A flow diagram of the strategy employed for the current review.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The molecular regulation of adipogenesis and signaling pathways involved in obesity. (A) Diagram of the process of adipogenesis and adipogenesis markers; (B) Anti-obesity mechanism is composed of beige adipogenesis, white-to-brown adipocyte transdifferentiaiton and lipolysis. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The structures of the seven most classic compounds (trigonelline, cafestol, kahweol, caffeine, 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) in coffee, five most classic compounds (epigallocatechin gallate, catechins, theaflavin and L-theannine and theabrownins) in tea and five most classic compounds (quercetin, epicatechin, procyanidin B2, theobromine and protocatehuic acid) in cocoa.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Schematic representation the possible mechanisms of action of representative bioactive compounds in coffee, tea and cocoa on obesity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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