Over a four-week period, Yokoyama's research team fed a group of hamsters a high-fat diet about 38 percent of calories derived from fat similar to the fat content of typical American fast-food diets. Results were then compared to a group of animals that were fed a low-fat (11 percent fat-derived calories) diet. As expected, the animals fed the high-fat diets developed insulin resistance, but the animals fed the low-fat diet did not. But when soluble cellulose in the form of HPMC was substituted for the insoluble fiber normally found in the high-fat diets and then fed to another group of test animals over the same period, it prevented insulin resistance, according to the researchers.
Using special analytical techniques, the investigative team also studied metabolic changes in the test animals at the genetic level. They found significant differences in gene expression, as measured by messenger RNA changes, between animals that became insulin resistant and those that did not, they say.
Although the exact mechanism by which HPMC works is unclear, Yokoyama believes that it acts as a fat regulator. The compound appears to slow down the absorption of fats either in the stomach, small intestine, or both preventing high fat levels from overwhelming the digestive system, he says. The compound also seems to facilitate the normal transport of fat into the adipose tissue, where it is normally stored, he adds.
By contrast, fats that are taken into the body too quickly, as during a fast-food binge, tend to be rapidly shunted to non-adipose tissues such as the liver, heart and pancreas, where they can do extensive damage to cells. Pancreatic damage can lead to diabetes.
HPMC, which is manufactured by Dow Chemical Company, is used in many common food products such as fillings, sauces and glazes, where it usually functions as a texture modifier. Although it constitutes from 0.5 to 1.5 percent of the total ingredients found in indivi
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15-Mar-2005