Botanical Antinutrients as Natural Modulators of Postprandial Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia: A Narrative Review

Postprandial elevation in blood monosaccharide and lipid levels is recognized as a significant challenge to systemic homeostasis and physiology, which can be minimized by controlling and monitoring the use of antinutrients. Delve into the investigations made with botanical antinutrients towards modulating intestinal carbohydrate and lipid digestion and subsequent nutrient absorption. A literature search was performed utilizing Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus with search strings "antinutrients," "antinutrients and obesity," "pancreatic lipase inhibitors and obesity," "alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and obesity," "amylase inhibitors and obesity," "SGLT1 inhibitors", "inhibitors of intestinal monosaccharide absorption," and "inhibitors of intestinal lipid absorption." Exclusion: (a) microorganism-originated compounds and (b) botanical compounds demonstrating antihyperlipidemic and antihyperglycemic effects supported only by in silico studies. This literature enlightens documented shreds of evidence of natural plant-derived antinutrients, the level of investigation, and the proposed mechanism of action. In vitro (enzymatic and cell-based) and in vivo (obese and diabetic animals) studies have demonstrated that among the numerous botanical antinutrients noted for hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia, Betulinic acid, Vaticanol A, Vaticanol E, and Berberine are supermolecules that tackle both conditions in animal models. Further, these compounds target the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), a common culprit in metabolic disorders. The current state of the art sheds light on the potential use of botanical compounds, as monotherapy or in combination therapy, to be projected as a single solution for two problems, that is, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. However, more robust experimentation, dose optimization, in vivo effectiveness, toxicological aspects, clinical safety and efficacy are to be validated.