1.It completely prevented weight gain on a HFD. That’s pretty rare. As you can see below, the golden Camu Camu curve was basically the same as the white one that got the standard chow diet.

This was partly due to an increase in metabolic rate, which was facilitated by increasing UCP1, DIO2 (increases T4 to T3 conversion), and PGC1a.

The mice also showed lower triglycerides, inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IFNγ, etc.), endotoxin, and higher body temperature and unconjugated bile acids (DCA, HDCA, ...).

The camu-camu group was described as being fully protected against diet-induced hepatic steatosis.

Another thing that contributed to the benefits was a strong increase in Akkermansia. I talked about the benefits of it here.

Camu camu also increased Turicibacter. Its abundance correlated with several unconjugated bile acids.
I talked about it here.

They also found a strong correlation with increased TGR5, which is a bile acid receptor that increases Dio2 / T4 → T3 conversion.

So the whole cascade may go something like this:

camu camu → microbiome changes → bile-acid changes → TGR5 → DIO2 → increased T3 activity → UCP1 → thermogenesis

Camu camu is mostly taken because of its high vitamin C content. Interestingly, vitamin C was NOT able to confer the same benefits. So simply taking a vitamin C supplement won’t replace camu camu.

HED = around 1.25 g/day, which is not high at all.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30064988/