Scientists Create Emulsion that Influences Satiety

A new emulsion that is about to be introduced into processed foods to see whether it returns the expected results could be every dieter’s dream. Made from water, olive oil and stabilizers also used in the baking industry, the emulsion could trick the stomach into feeling full for up to 12 hours, researchers say for the Daily Mail.

Still, although the first steps towards introducing the emulsion into processed foods as well have already been taken, that is not to say it will hit store shelves worldwide in the next couple of months, since researchers estimate it’s going to take years before this happens. However, the olive oil-based emulsion does promise to hold the key to efficiently combat the obesity epidemics that is believed to reach critical numbers by 2050, with some countries having to deal with half the population being obese by that time.

“The three-year project found that emulsions of olive oil and water – the same principle as a salad dressing – can be altered to affect how they react in the acid environment of the stomach. Such mixtures need to have a stabilizer added to them to ensure their properties remain the same over time. Scientists made two types of emulsion, stabilized with different compounds commonly used in the food industry – Tween 60 and Span 80.” the Mail writes of the emulsion. One such test revealed that it could linger in the stomach for almost 12 hours after ingestion.

In this sense, volunteers were served with a coffee shake that also had the emulsion in question as one of the ingredients. The content of the stomach of each subject was closely monitored, and researchers established that traces of the emulsion could still be found 12 hours after ingestion, which would suggest the feeling of satiety lingered for all this while with the subject. The idea is that water is not so easily eliminated from the stomach because it comes mixed with oil, while the stabilizers act against stomach acid, preventing it from breaking the emulsion down and flushing it away.

“It is important to keep weight down, and this is a more acceptable way of doing it than restricting your food intake on a diet.” Martin Wickham of the IFR says for the Mail. Luca Marciani of Nottingham University, who was also involved in the study and the development of the first emulsion, agrees, “Our research proves it is possible to design oil-in-water emulsions with different behaviors in the gut to influence gastrointestinal physiology and, ultimately, satiety.”