Milk Proteins Increase Satiety, Weight Management

CARLOW, IrelandTeagasc researchers are looking at milk-derived proteins, including casein and whey, that increase satiety as possible functional food ingredients for weight management approaches that can be more easily adapted into daily eating patterns.

Obesity is a global health concern that has reached epidemic proportions, and the development of food formulations that increase the production and secretion of satiety hormones could have the potential to provide functional ingredients for weight management and appetite control.

Teagasc researchers are looking into bovine milk protein-derived hydrolysates as several studies have correlated increased milk and dairy consumption with positive effects on body weight, metabolic control and glycaemia. The main bovine milk proteins are caseins (, and casein) and whey proteins (-lactalbumin and -lactoglobulin).

Ongoing work at Teagasc is focused on screening the hydrolysates and fermentates for positive effects on gastrointestinal satiety signaling using a mammalian cell culture model, supported by in vivo trials (in mice and pig models) in conjunction with the Food for Health Ireland (FHI) team at the Biosciences Institute at University College Cork and with the Pig Development Unit in Moorepark.

So far, researchers at Moorepark have identified 15 samples that induce satiety hormones in vitro. Out of the 15 samples, two frontrunners have demonstrated a reduction in food intake in animal models. Although researchers at Teagasc have focused on screening milk fractions, the screening assays developed are applicable to screen any food fraction for satiety.