‘Anti-hunger’ yoghurt ingredient

A proof-of-concept clinical trial of an ‘anti-hunger’ ingredient for yoghurt, fruit shakes, smoothies and other foods that makes people feel full longer and eases their craving to eat has had promising results.

The potential new tool in the battle of the bulge is methyl cellulose, a white powder that dissolves in cold water to form a thick solution that turns into a ‘gel’ or gelatin-like material upon heating. Methyl cellulose provides a pleasant texture and is already used to hold the ingredients together in hundreds of food products like baked goods, sweet and savoury snacks and ready meals.

According to Dr Carsten Huettermann, who presented a report on the clinical trial at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, this clinical trial is the first use of methyl cellulose as a satiety ingredient in food.

“This ingredient would make people feel full after eating smaller amounts of food,” Huettermann explained. “With that sense of fullness and hunger satisfaction, they would not crave more food. In our first study, we saw that fewer calories were consumed at the following meal after eating our new product. Our next step now is to investigate in further studies the mechanism of action and whether this may have an impact on weight management.”

The updated methyl cellulose, named SATISFIT-LTG, showed promise for doing that in a controlled clinical trial. Volunteers who consumed SATISFIT-LTG experienced a reduction in the sensation of hunger that lasted until the consumption of a following meal in which the volunteers could eat as much as they wanted (two hours after eating SATISFIT-LTG) and a statistically significant reduced intake of calories at this meal. The consumption of SATISFIT-LTG resulted in a 13% decrease in calorie intake.

Huettermann explained that conventional versions of methyl cellulose pass through the stomach rapidly and do not work as a satiety ingredient. SATISFIT-LTG, however, forms a gel at body temperature and the gel lingers in the stomach before passing into the small intestine.

The scientists are developing SATISFIT-LTG as a potential ingredient in cold foods, such as smoothies and yoghurts, and Huettermann said that work will continue based on the promising clinical trial results.

Heuttermann is with Dow Wolff Cellulosics in Bomlitz, Germany, which manufactures methyl cellulose.