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 The ingredient, developed by researchers at London's Imperial
College and at the University of Glasgow, contains propionate, a
natural substance that stimulates the gut to release hormones that
act on the brain to reduce hunger.
Propionate is produced naturally when fiber in the diet is fermented
by microbes in the gut, but the new ingredient, inulin-propionate
ester (IPE), provides much larger amounts of propionate than people
can generate in a normal diet."Molecules like propionate stimulate
the release of gut hormones that control appetite, but you need to
eat huge amounts of fiber to achieve a strong effect," said Gary
Frost of Imperial's department of medicine, who led the study.
"We wanted to find a more efficient way to deliver propionate to the
gut."
In a study published in the journal Gut, Frost's team gave 20
volunteers either IPE or inulin, a dietary fiber, and then allowed
them to eat as much as they liked from a buffet.
The team found that those given IPE ate 14 percent less on average
and had higher concentrations of appetite-reducing hormones in their
blood.
In a second phase, 60 overweight volunteers took part in a 24-week
study in which half were given IPE powder to add to their food and
half given inulin.
Only one out of 25 volunteers given IPE who completed the study
gained more than 3.0 percent of their body weight, compared with six
out of 24 given inulin. None of the IPE group gained more than 5.0
percent of their body weight, compared with four in the inulin
group.
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After 24 weeks, the IPE group also had less fat in their abdomens
and livers compared with the inulin group.
Frost said that while the findings were only from a small,
early-stage study, they offered "encouraging signs" that IPE might
help prevent weight gain in overweight people.
He and his team are working with Imperial Innovations, a technology
commercialization company focused on developing promising British
academic research, on taking IPE to market.
"We're exploring what kinds of foods it could be added to, but
something like bread or fruit smoothies might work well," he said.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Crispian Balmer)
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