Zulfaqar Dudhia’s research while affiliated with Stellenbosch University and other places

... Often, traditional medicinal products are consumed as diet or as food supplements (Mbendana et al., 2019) and in South Africa, some dietary plants such Aspalathus linearis (rooibos tea), Cyclopia species (honeybush tea) and Athrixia phylicoides (bush tea) are considered medicinal herbal teas . Extracts of A. linearis and A. phylicoides demonstrate assorted medicinal attributes, as do extracts from Cyclopia species, the major focus of the current study Louw et al., 2013;Joubert et al., 2019) Specifically, Cyclopia species, such as C. subternata Vogel, C. genistoides C. sessiliflora, C. intermedia, C. longifolia, and C. maculata, demonstrate anti-diabetic (Chellan et al., 2014;Schulze et al., 2016), anti-obesity (Pheiffer et al., 2013;Jack et al., 2018), and immune-stimulatory activities (Murakami et al., 2018) and osteoclast formation inhibition (Visagie et al., 2015); in addition to their useful application in nutraceutical, and cosmetic products (Joubert et al., 2019). Particularly of relevance to the current study, the C. subternata Vogel extract, SM6Met, was shown in several studies to possess phytoestrogenic activity, to display ERα antagonism and ERβ agonism, to antagonize estrogen-induced proliferation in ER + BC cells (Mfenyana et al., 2008;Louw et al., 2013;Visser et al., 2013;Mortimer et al., 2015;van Dyk, 2018) and to ameliorate BC in rats (Visser et al., 2016;Oyenihi et al., 2018). ...

Reference:

Cyclopia extracts act as selective estrogen receptor subtype downregulators in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cell lines: Comparison to standard of care breast cancer endocrine therapies and a selective estrogen receptor agonist and antagonist

... The results from these experiments indicate that fermented tea substantially curtails weight gain and diminishes fat accumulation in obese animals [93]. Furthermore, fermented tea has shown potential in regulating blood sugar levels, contributing to the improved metabolic health of obese animals [94,95]. Regarding the gut microbiome, fermented tea modulates the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, while suppressing the growth of harmful bacteria, thereby enhancing the intestinal health of obese animals [96][97][98][99]. ...

Reference:

Harnessing the Power of Fermented Tea to Improve Gut Microbiota and Combat Obesity Epidemic