Food ingredient 'prevents weight gain'

The food ingredient which contains propionate is designed to stimulate the gut to release hormones that act on the brain to reduce hunger.

Propionate is a short-chain fatty acid that is produced naturally when dietary fibre is fermented by microbes in the gut.

“We’re exploring what kinds of foods it could be added to, but something like bread or fruit smoothies might work well

Study leader Gary Frost

However, the new ingredient, known as inulin-propionate ester (IPE), provides much larger quantities of propionate than people can acquire with a normal diet.

“Molecules like propionate stimulate the release of gut hormones that control appetite, but you need to eat huge amounts of fibre to achieve a strong effect. We wanted to find a more efficient way to deliver propionate to the gut,” said study leader Gary Frost, at the department of medicine at ICL.

Initial clinical trials conducted in 20 overweight volunteers that were given either IPE or inulin, a dietary fibre, allowed participants to eat as much as they liked from a buffet.

According to results, those given IPE ate 14% less on average, and had higher concentrations of appetite-reducing hormones in their blood.

A second round of clinical trials saw 60 overweight volunteers take part in a 24-week study in which half were given IPE as a powder to add to their food, and half given inulin.

Results suggested that one out of 25 volunteers given IPE who completed the study gained more than three per cent of their body weight, compared with six out of 24 given inulin. None of the IPE group gained more than 5% of their body weight, compared with four in the inulin group.

After 24 weeks, the IPE group also had less fat in their abdomens and livers compared with the inulin group, the researchers said.

“This small, proof-of-principle study shows encouraging signs that supplementing one’s diet with the ingredient we’ve developed prevents weight gain in overweight people,” Frost said.

“You need to eat it regularly to have an effect. We’re exploring what kinds of foods it could be added to, but something like bread or fruit smoothies might work well.”

Looking at propionate’s impact on clinical practice in the forseeable future, researchers said that optimising its colonic production through selection of propiogenic dietary fibres may represent a novel route to prevent weight gain throughout life and improve public health.

Imperial Innovations, a technology commercialisation company focused on developing UK academic research, is now working with Frost and his colleagues on taking the ingredient to market.

A full acount of the study has been published in the journal Gut.