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An Anonymous Coward writes:

A group of researchers has announced that a phytochemical (plant chemical) found in numerous fruits and vegetables, in particular certain red grapes, appears to create metabolic changes in the human liver and fat cells that may help fight obesity. The authors of the study exposed lab-grown human tissue to four chemicals found naturally in the dark red muscadine grape native to the southeastern US. One of the four, ellagic acid (EA), was found to dramatically decrease the growth rate of existing fat cells, and the creation of new ones.

From the paper (Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry):

One of the paper's authors, Oregon State biochemist Neil Shay, explained in an interview that the research was, in part, an extension of a previous study in which Shay and others researched the effect of extracts of ellagic acid on mice, using extract of Pinot Noir grapes. In that study, the mice were divided into three groups: a control group fed ordinary (10 percent fat) "mouse chow", a second group administered a high fat (60 percent) diet, and a third group given the high fat diet plus EA supplements. Shay says that at the end of the 10 week study, as expected, the second group exhibited high blood sugar and diabetic symptoms, similar to obese humans. However, the third group had less fat in their livers compared with the second group, and their blood sugar was almost as low as the control group. Shay says the mice in the third group were found to have higher activity levels of PPAR-alpha and PPAR-gamma, proteins which metabolize fat and sugar.

Ellagic acid is a phytochemical present in numerous fruits and vegetables. It is currently sold as a dietary supplement in the USA, but is outside the regulatory jurisdiction of the US Food and Drug Administration; the American Cancer Society warns that the cancer-fighting benefits, and safety for human consumption, of these supplements have not been proven.