Viscofiber® Supports Weight Loss

BATON ROUGE, La.—According to a recent study at Louisiana State University, providing overweight adults with a supplement of Viscofiber® (from Cevena Bioproducts Inc.), along with a lifestyle change program and diet, causes weight loss and increases satiety (J Med Food, 2007;10(4):720-724). Seven healthy overweight and obese subjects were treated with a calorie-restricted diet, a lifestyle change program, and 4 g/d of Viscofiber for 16 weeks. Hunger, perceived satiety, and fasting levels of satiety markers peptide-YY (PYY), and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) were measured before and one hour after a standard meal test, and before and at week 14 of the study. Weight was reduced 3.07 ± 3.13 kg (P<0.05) over the 16 weeks. Fasting PYY increased 8.67 ± 6.62 pg/mL (P<0.05) and fasting GLP-1 increased 2.67 ± 0.84 pmol/L (P<0.01) at 14 weeks compared to baseline. Satiety increased 1.78 ± 1.43 cm (P<0.01) at the one-hour post-meal time point on week 14 compared to the study baseline.