Experimental Drink Could Help Dieters Feel Full

April 21, 2011— -- With the growing epidemic of obesity, Dutch researchers may have come up with a way for people to stick to their diets and lose weight -- an experimental meal replacement drink that seems to reduce hunger pangs and help dieters feel full longer.

A study conducted among 23 volunteers found that the drink reduced their hunger by as much as 30 percent five hours after drinking it, reported Harry Peters, a manager-scientist at of Unilever Research & Development in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, and colleagues.

The secret ingredient: a strongly gelling dietary fiber called alginate.

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"The drink was designed in such a way that it only gels under gastric conditions and not in the product before consumption," Peters and co-authors explained online in the journal Obesity. They theorized that a drink of this kind "would dose-dependently decrease hunger responses at relatively low alginate levels."

A drink containing the gelling fiber that was palatable and able to delay the return of hunger could potentially increase consumer satisfaction with weight control programs and low-calorie food products, and thus encourage long-term compliance, the Dutch team suggested.

"Satiety feelings on a meal-to-meal basis are partly determined by gastrointestinal (GI) stimuli," they wrote. "One way to increase satiety is by formation of gels within the stomach. However, the viscosity of drinks needs to be high to increase satiety, and this may reduce consumer acceptance for many (e.g., fluid) types of products."

But producing a palatable drink based on post-consumption gelatin stimulated by gastric conditions might therefore be a preferred option, they suggested.