Oligofructose Shown to Promote Satiety
BeneoP95 shown to promote satiety and to limit energy intake in humans.
10/01/06 A new pilot study in humans has demonstrated that oligofructose - when incorporated into the diet - can act as a trigger limiting hunger feeling and energy intake. Orafti have reported that research in animal models previously found that metabolites originating from oligofructose fermentation in the colon are likely to be involved in the mechanism. Oligofructose fermentation indeed modulates the release of gut hormones in the blood and the latter in turn act as signalling agents to the brain influencing appetite and consequently food intake.
Introduction
Approximately one in three people living in the European Union is overweight* of which more than one in ten is now obese, as shown by findings from the European Association for the study of Obesity, with numbers being even more dramatic in the United States. Obesity is strongly linked with the incidence of several chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which in turn are expected to increase mortality rates in the next coming years. The global rise in obesity and its economic impact on health care budgets urged the food industry to develop new approaches to lower the obesity burden. Whereas current dietary strategies show unsatisfactory results, Orafti said that its prebiotic ingredients offer another approach to help combat the obesity epidemic.
Animal studies
A study in rats fed either a diet supplemented with BeneoTMP95 or BeneoTMSynergy1 (10%) or a standard diet (control) for 3 weeks showed significantly lower energy intake in the three groups of rats fed the fructan diets compared to the control group (P<0.05). This led to a significant decrease in body fat mass after 3 weeks which was most pronounced for both the BeneoTMP95 and BeneoTMSynergy1 fed groups (30% decrease) vs. controls (P<0.01). Parallel with these observations, the plasma level of the hunger-repressing gut peptide GLP-1 was significantly higher in the portal vein of the rats fed BeneoTMP95 and BeneoTMSynergy1 than in control animals (P<0.05).
On the contrary, the plasma level of the food intake-stimulating hormone ghrelin remained significantly lower in the BeneoTMP95 and BeneoTMSynergy1 animals than in the control rats (P<0.05). Normally plasma ghrelin concentration increases during a period of food deprivation, signalling a feeling of hunger to the brain, whereas level rapidly falls after a meal.
A subsequent study was undertaken in an animal model for obesity where rats were fed BeneoTMP95 (10%), or not, together with a high-fat diet for 2 weeks. Energy intake was significantly lower in the high-fat BeneoTMP95-supplemented group than in the high-fat controls (P<0.05). Weight gain during the high-fat diet was significantly lower in the rats receiving the diet enriched with BeneoTMP95 than in those receiving the high-fat diet only (P<0.05). Total weight of the adipose tissue also was lower (2-fold) in the BeneoTMP95 fed animals than in the controls (P<0.05).
Human data
Recently the satiety-inducing effects of BeneoTMP95 were confirmed in a human volunteer pilot intervention study. Ten healthy men and women aged 21-39 years with normal BMI values took part in a cross-over and placebo-controlled trial. Subjects were supplemented at breakfast and dinner with BeneoTMP95 (8g/meal) or placebo (maltodextrin).
After breakfast, BeneoTMP95 significantly increased satiety as compared to the placebo treatment (P<0.05). After the dinner meal, higher levels of satiety were obtained and maintained in volunteers supplemented with BeneoTMP95 compared to the placebo subjects (P<0.05). In addition, supplementation with BeneoTMP95 reduced hunger (P<0.05) and prospective food consumption compared to the placebo (P<0.05). Total energy intake during the day was significantly lower in volunteers supplemented with BeneoTMP95 compared to the placebo group (P<0.05).
Conclusion
BeneoTMP95 and BeneoTMSynergy1 have been shown to modulate food intake and body weight in animal models. These effects were accompanied by a lower body fat mass and a lower deposition of fat coming from high-fat diets that otherwise would have led to obesity. More recently a first intervention trial in human volunteers has confirmed that BeneoTMP95 can enhance satiety as well as lower energy and food intake. BeneoTMP95 and BeneoTMSynergy1 could thus play a key role as a new tool helping to fight the obesity epidemic.
Dr. Anne Franck, Executive Vice President of Science and Technology at ORAFTI, commented, "The induction of endogenous satietogenic hormones by oligofructose offers an interesting approach to tackle the obesity problem. This should allow food manufacturers to use BeneoTM oligofructose to increase the satiety potential of their food products, thus helping consumers not to overeat themselves".
