'Convenience' food will take a whole new meaning if British scientists are successful in developing what they call fat-fighting ready-meals and snacks.
The appetite suppressant containing foods could appear in supermarkets within two years.The approach, which the researchers are following, includes - incorporation of hunger curbing plant chemicals called lipids into a wide range of convenience foods such as cakes and biscuits.
Lipids exist in cereals including oats, which explains why a bowl of porridge keeps you feeling fuller for longer.
The research, led by Dr Peter Wilde, of the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, is developing a way of isolating those lipids that are easily digested by the body and concentrating them into a product that can be inserted into food.
"We are looking at how to change the satiety properties," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.
"We are trying to reduce appetite by using the body's own natural response rather than using an appetite suppressant drug," he added.
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Lipids do this by interfering with lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fat in the digestive system. By slowing this breakdown, the gut believes it has consumed a larger amount of fat than it actually has, causing a hormonal response that corresponds to feeling full.
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However, other experts challenged the demonisation of "convenience" food.
Dr Becky Laing, from the Medical Research Council, said it was wrong to categorise all convenience food as "junk".
"There are foods that fit this portrayal but there are many others that don't," she said.
"If we continue to press the message that it is impossible to eat healthily while using convenience foods, we simply make healthy eating unattainable. Instead, we need to press manufacturers to develop more healthy but convenient options," she added.
The study is published in the International Journal of Obesity.
Source-ANI
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