A study has shown that regular consumption of HolisFiit, a polyphenol-rich extract-based food supplement by Fytexia, improves mind and body well-being of overweight volunteers.
HolisFiitVR is a polyphenol-rich food supplement natural product blending polyphenols extracted from fruit and vegetables; specifically, green tea and yerba mate extracts with grape, grapefruit, black carrot and vitamin B3.
Modern lifestyles strive for natural solutions to improve general well-being, with mind-body activities such as yoga. However, people with weight issues often continue to struggle.
To see beneficial effects of yoga require regular partaking of the activity, which is physically straining. This may be a deterrent to people with low fitness and people whose low general well-being may include being self-conscious.
As an alternative, literature suggests that polyphenols, compounds with antioxidant properties, demonstrate positive effects on both mental and physical health.
Polyphenols are found abundantly in natural plant food sources. There are more than 8,000 identified polyphenols found in foods such as tea, wine, chocolates, fruits, vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil.
The study
The study, in collaboration with the Research Center of High Performance Sport, University of Murcia (Spain), was a 16-week randomised, double-blind, parallel trial. It was published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2017. The participants were 33 healthy male and female subjects (BMI=25-35) aged 30 to 50 years.
Fytexia are involved in the research and development and marketing and sales of polyphenol extracts from various fruit and vegetables regularly consumed within the Mediterranean.
The study involved administering daily supplements of its HolisFiitVR product to overweight people. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) technology was used to anayliyse body fat composition.
The results showed that the products positively affected body composition, sleep quality and well-being as defined by the Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36).
The study concludes that further investigations need to be conducted to gain insight into mechanisms of action of bioactive components within the supplement, especially regarding polyphenols.
It adds that a study incorporating a yoga practitioner arm would serve to investigate the potential synergistic benefits of HolisFiitVR in direct association with the practice, which is growing ever more popular. The company plan to look into how to maximize these benefits of yoga with twice daily supplements of the product.