Effect of a vegetable-oil emulsion on body composition; a 12-week study in overweight women on a meal replacement therapy after an initial weight loss: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: The maintenance of an obtained lower weight level is often found to be difficult. The aim of this study was to determine weight maintenance after an initial weight loss by consumption of a meal replacement with a vegetable-oil emulsion associated with prolonged satiety. METHODS: After a 6-week weight loss period with very low calorie diet (VLCD), subjects with >5% body weight (BW) loss were randomized to a 12-week weight maintenance follow-up period, comparing a partial meal replacement diet containing a vegetable-oil emulsion (test) or dairy fat (control). Anthropometric data and safety variables were collected at baseline and after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. RESULTS: A significant weight loss was observed during the 12-week weight maintenance diet in the test and control group, respectively; 1.0 ± 2.1 kg (p < 0.05) versus 1.3 ± 2.1 kg (p < 0.05) with no significant difference between the groups. Body fat mass (BFM) decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the test group (--1.7%) compared to the control group (--0.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Addition of a vegetable-oil emulsion to a meal replacement weight maintenance program after an initial weight loss using VLCD was associated with decreased BFM by 0.9% without any change in BW between the two groups.

Gastrointestinal metabolism of a vegetable-oil emulsion in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: Given the growing prevalence of overweight and obesity, weight-management strategies could be developed based on the effect of specific food ingredients on the gastrointestinal system to reduce food intake. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms by which a vegetable-oil emulsion may exert its effect on satiety by applying a multilumen tube to investigate digestion and absorption of lipids in the stomach and proximal jejunum. DESIGN: We gave 16 healthy, normal-weight subjects (in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design) a test product (yogurt with a vegetable-oil emulsion) or an equal-calorie control by intragastric administration on 2 separate occasions. Gastric and intestinal samples were collected from the proximal jejunum during 180 min. RESULTS: We observed almost double amounts (P < 0.05) of total lipids, mainly as free fatty acids, from the test product (450 +/- 119 mg) in the proximal jejunum compared with amounts of total lipids from the control product (230 +/- 50 mg), and an over-time difference of free fatty acid concentrations was observed between the products (P < 0.05). To our knowledge, a novel and unexpected finding was the appearance of needle-shaped crystals in the jejunal samples that originated from the vegetable-oil emulsion and consisted of saturated fatty acids. Crystals were only rarely seen in the control samples. CONCLUSION: The higher amount of lipids in the proximal jejunum and the recovery of crystals in the intestinal samples after test-product infusion provide a plausible physiologic explanation for the ileal brake mechanism that leads to the increased satiety observed for this test product.

Effect of fat emulsion (Fabuless) on orocecal transit time in healthy men.

BACKGROUND: Given the growing prevalence of overweight and related health consequences, there is increased interest in the search for novel dietary strategies for weight control. A food ingredient, an emulsion based on palm and oat oil (Fabuless, previously known as Olibra), has been associated with short-term reductions of food intake, induction of satiety, alternation in the satiety hormones, as well as long-term effects on weight control. The mechanism by which it can exert these effects is so far unclear, though it has been suggested that the "ileal break" may play a role in increasing gastrointestinal transit time. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of this stable fat emulsion on orocecal transit time in healthy men. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a controlled, double-blind, cross-over-designed study, 15 healthy men (aged 20-59 years, body mass index (BMI) 22-28), randomly allocated to two treatments, consumed the stable fat emulsion or a milk fat in yoghurt during two days of investigation, with an interval of 1 week. Orocecal transit time was determined by following blood sulfapyridine levels, which is a metabolite of salazopyrine in the colon. RESULTS: A statistically significant delay in the appearance of sulfapyridine in serum was obtained after active treatment versus control treatment, corresponding to a 45-min longer orocecal transit time due to fat emulsion consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence to suggest that this stable fat emulsion may affect the ileal brake mechanism by slowing down the gastrointestinal transit time, which might explain the weight control and appetite suppression previously observed in association with this emulsion.