A month ago, there was news about research that suggests you could imagine eating to eat less. This month brings another news story about how scientists are trying to break our tendency to be relentless eating machines.
Nestlé–who, along being a name synonymous with chocolate, is one of the world's largest food firms–is developing new products that will make you feel fuller faster and keep you satiated longer so that you don't eat so damn much.
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Its researchers' idea involves altering foods to trick our “gut brain.” For example, one thing they're looking into are oils that get digested slower in the gut. According to the Wall Street Journal, “They first measured how long it took the artificial gut to digest olive oil at the natural rate. Then they added a compound called monoglyceride, which formed a protective coat around the oil molecules, making it harder for the gut's juices to break through and digest the oil.”
Since it sticks around longer, researchers think your body will be tricked into thinking it doesn't need that next doughnut or bag of chips.
The rationale is this: “The body is in a state of continual hunger–its default position. But several factors work to curtail the hunger instinct, such as the presence of food in the digestive tract or the flow of nutrients in the blood. When these satiety factors dissipate, the body again demands food.”
I'm no food scientist, but I remember Olestra, the brand of oil that basically shoots through your system without contributing to your fat intake, but whose side effects added the unfortunate phrase “anal leakage” to our vernacular. As they move forward, Nestlé should heed this as a cautionary tale.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.