Craving Buster Smoothie

Milkshake that dulls the appetite could help dieters shed the pounds.

10:41 04 July 2016

A new, revolutionary milkshake can switch off cravings for junk food. The food supplement is based on a molecule produced by bacteria in the gut that help reduce cravings for high-calorie foods such as chocolates, pizza, and cake.

 

In the study, 20 volunteers were asked to consume a milkshake that either contained an ingredient called inulin-propionate easter or a type of fibre called inulin. Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow then asked the participants to undergo an MRI scan, where they were shown pictures of low or high calorie foods. They found that volunteers who drank the milkshake that contained the inulin-propionate ester, had less activity in areas of their brain linked to reward – but only when looking at high calorie foods.

 

Professor Gary Frost, senior author of the study from the Department of Medicine at Imperial, said: 'Our previous findings showed that people who ate this ingredient gained less weight - but we did not know why. 

 

'This study is filling in a missing bit of the jigsaw - and shows that this supplement can decrease activity in brain areas associated with food reward at the same time as reducing the amount of food they eat.'