The Possible Health Benefits of Mistletoe? - East Idaho News

The Possible Health Benefits of Mistletoe?

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getty 121914 mistletoe?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1418995452035iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Leave it to medical researchers to find something about mistletoe that has nothing to do with kissing. The traditional plant that people hang in their homes at Christmastime may one day keep your liver healthy.

In a report published on the website Science Daily, researchers say a compound produced by a particular variety of the plant — Korean mistletoe -– may help fight obesity-related liver disease in mice.

That particular mistletoe contains a number of biologically active compounds, including steroids, flavonoids and viscothionin.

When the researchers treated obese mice with viscothionin, their body and liver weights dropped.

The researchers say more work is needed, but viscothionin may one day be useful in fighting fatty liver disease, which is linked to obesity and can progress to liver failure in some cases.


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