Fat-Buster Makes Burgers Healthier and May Prevent Diabetes

A new form of soluble cellulose that, if added to high-fat food items, appears to slow down fat absorption to a healthier rate and reduce the likelihood of developing insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Called HPMC (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose), the cellulose-derivative has been used for half-a-century as an additive in many foods and drugs, mostly to provide texture, but the researchers believe this is the first study to demonstrate its potential as a functional food ingredient. HPMC, which is tasteless and odorless, could one day be added to hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs and other high-fat foods as a novel line of defense against diabetes, which is on the rise in this country, the researchers say.

Tasteless and odorless HPMC has been used for 50 years as a food additive to improve texture. But the ingredient could one day be added to fast foods to help prevent diabetes, say scientists.

While it is not likely to affect obesity, HPMC may reduce obese people’s chances of developing diabetes and its complications, especially heart disease.

Dr Wallace Yokoyama, a research chemist at the US Department of Agriculture in Albany, California, said: "Obviously the less fat you eat, the better off you are. But if you’re going to eat high-fat foods, then adding HPMC to it might help limit the damage.
"In our studies with hamsters, adding HPMC to the animals’ high-fat diet prevented development of insulin resistance."

He predicted the compound making its way into human food within one or two years. Over a four-week period, Dr Yokoyama’s team fed hamsters meals containing the same amount of fat as typical American fast food.

Results were then compared with those from a group of animals fed a low-fat diet. Only animals fed on high-fat diets developed insulin resistance. But when soluble cellulose in the form of HPMC replaced the insoluble fiber normally found in high-fat foods, insulin resistance was prevented.

Yokoyama believes HPMC acts as a fat regulator. It appears to slow down the absorption of fats, either in the stomach, the small intestine or both, to prevent them overwhelming the digestive system.

The compound also seems to facilitate the normal transport of fat into adipose tissue, where it is normally stored. Fats taken into the body too quickly tend to be shunted into non-adipose tissues such as the liver, heart and pancreas where they can do extensive damage to cells. Pancreatic damage can lead to diabetes.

The preliminary animal study was described at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.