Fræðigrein

Obesity is becoming an increasing health problem and results when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure. Food has a crucial role in weight management. The new EU legislation on nutrition and health claims permits the use of weight regulation and satiety related health claims on foods, if they are based on generally accepted scientific evidence. In this review the current knowledge on food properties, that have been proposed to affect satiety and/or energy expenditure and thus might be useful in weight control are considered, as part of the project „Substantiation of weight regulation and satiety related health claims on foods“ funded by the Nordic Innovation Centre. At this point the scientific evidence of the short term effects of dietary fibers and proteins in relation to satiety seems to be convincing. However, it might be challenging to make product specific satiety and weight management claims as the dose response is not always known. On the other hand two step health claims might be applied, for example rich in dietary fibre - dietary fibre can increase satiety or rich in protein - protein can increase satiety.

 

Table I: Summary of the main findings of the effects of different macronutrients on postprandial release of satiety-related gastrointestinal peptides.

Table II: Terminology used in studies on appetite regulation.