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Alginate, a fiber in an alga, it can prevent the absorption of up to 75% of the fats you eat with it. Its incorporation into foods such as bread, crackers or yogurt could be a major breakthrough in the fight against obesity. It is now being tested.

The finding, by a team of researchers at the University of Newcastle (UK) co-directed by Iain Brownlee, has been presented at the Spring Symposium of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. It focuses on the alginate, a fiber in a brown seaweed, kelp.

Scientists from the university said were indications that some fibers may cause some of the fat eaten with them proves not absorbed by the intestine. They used a device that is capable of simulating the process of fat absorption by the body, which they called “artificial gut”, and tested with 60 natural fibers. Based on these results, they concluded that the alginate fiber is more promising with significantly reduced absorption of fat.

Then alginate added to the bread and made preliminary tests of fat absorption, which have been very encouraging, since up to 75% of ingested fats were not absorbed. This percentage is higher than that obtained with most treatments for obesity.

The next step will be clinical testing in which alginate incorporate certain foods (bread, biscuits, yoghurt …), as part of a normal diet. If all goes well, alginate could be a real solution in the difficult battle against obesity, thus displacing many products that are sold at exorbitant prices and also do not work.

However, the scientific community is prudent. So, Dr David Haslam, director of the National Obesity Forum, said that “this seems promising, but suggest it could only start if scientists can offer clear evidence based on rigorous testing.”

Source: www.adelgazar.net/n10081-kelt-alga-para-adelgazar.htm
image source: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/seaweed-1.jpg

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