Potential new obesity treatment

Rats fed edible microbeads designed to absorb fat have showed demonstrable weight loss. These beads could one day be used in our drinks and food to treat or prevent obesity.

Highly effective weight-loss drugs such as Zepbound and Wegovy now on the market have a multitude of side effects, while also coming in at a hefty price. Hence the search for a new way to tackle obesity.

Researchers at Sichuan University in China have developed edible microbeads that can capture fat before it is absorbed by the body. The beads were created using vitamin E and a variety of compounds found in green tea, before being coated with a type of seaweed fibre called alginate. All these constituents are approved as food-grade.

When ingested in the stomach, the protecting alginate layer expands to allow partially digested fats to enter the interior of the beads. The trapped fat and the beads are subsequently excreted from the body at the end of their journey. The beads were tested in eight rats fed a 60% fat diet. After a month these rats had lost some 17% of their body fat compared to the control group not fed the beads. They also had less liver damage and fat tissue than the control group.

On examining the faeces of the rats fed the beads, it was observed that their evacuated product contained more or less the same amount of fat as rats given orlistat, a drug that prevents fat absorption. This indicated that fat uptake was impeded at around the same level as with the drug, but with no gastrointestinal side effects. Said drug orlistat indeed makes bowel movement much harder to control.

This all makes the edible microbeads an attractive potential alternative for treating obesity, although they do still have to be tested in humans. Clinical trials involving 26 people are now under way with the results expected next year. These trials may alleviate the concern that the microbeads affect the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

Should everything progress as desired, the aim is to ultimately add the flavourless beads shaped as small balls the size of tapioca to delectable nourishment such as bubble teas and desserts.