This dietary fibre supplement may help control weight better

A study has proposed that a dietary fibre substitute named oligo-fructose may advance to better weight control. The research, organized by University of Calgary, helped to deduce the mechanisms of weight control and energy balance. The experiment was administered on rats who were given the dietary fibre supplement. Though they were on a high fat and high sugar diet, they results in lesser weight gain as compared to those who did not eat fibre.

Keith Sharkey, PhD, said that it was found that a simple diet with prebiotic oligofructose fibre decreased weight gain, and also led to long-term preservation of a lower body weight in the face of a continued dietary challenge.

Even though having constant access to food high in sugar and fat, rats given oligofructose fibre supplements, earned about one third less weight than the control group. The impact was seen regardless of the animals’ genetic predilection to obesity, with rats liable to obesity and those that were more impervious and almost leaner showing similar results.

Nina Cluny, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and the HBI said that the shocking result was that they both gained far less weight than controls.

Oligofructose is a naturally occurring alimentary fibre found in vegetables such as onions and other foods such as bananas, and is expected to reduce weight gain by affecting the composition of microbiota and some of the gut hormones that control food intake.

However, oligofructose should not be seen as a potential substitute to exercise and diet.