Study leader Prof Gary Frost, from Imperial College London, said: "We know that adults gain between 0.3kg and 0.8kg [1lb 12oz] a year on average, and there's a real need for new strategies that can prevent this. Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow created a new ingredient called inulin-propionate ester (IPE), basically hitching propionate to inulin, to see if sending fiber to the gut with added propionate would have an effect similar to delivering a significantly higher dose of fiber. So the team found a way to bind it to a natural carbohydrate found in plants, called inulin. Image copyright Thinkstock 
 
 In initial tests, 20 volunteers were either given inulin on its own or the new ingredient, known as IPE, and then allowed to eat as much as they liked from a buffet. Those who'd consumed the propionate ate 14 percent less on average than others, the researchers said. After 24 weeks, six of the 24 volunteers given inulin had gained more than 3% of their body weight while only one of the 25 given IPE had done so.  Scientists in the UK have developed a kind of super-fiber that may one day be added to breads, juices, and a variety of packaged foods to make people feel fuller from fewer calories. Frost is currently working on another trial feeding subjects inulin-propionate ester in bread, juice, and fruit smoothies, but it “could go in many other foods,” he says, cautiously optimistic that, barring unforeseen difficulties clearing regulatory hurdles, food companies could be using this ingredient in as little as two years. Writing in the journal Gut, the UK researchers said their chemical would have to be eaten regularly to have an effect.
– Scientists say they've concocted a chemical that can be added to food to make people feel full and thus eat less, reports the BBC. In two small but promising studies, researchers found that people who consumed food with the powder—called inulin-propionate ester, or IPE—gained less weight than their counterparts who went IPE-free, reports Quartz. If all goes well in larger studies, the scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow say that IPE could someday be added into bread, smoothies, and all manner of foods. "This is the first time that a food ingredient has been shown to decrease weight gain," says one of the lead researchers, as quoted in HealthDay News. The BBC explains that researchers figured out a way to make sure that IPE, once ingested, goes to the colon instead of being absorbed by the intestine. Once there, it seems to trigger appetite-suppressing hormones. In one of the studies, volunteers ate 14% less food from a buffet if it contained IPE. Scientists say IPE is essentially a tweak of a naturally occurring process and is therefore safe. (Another way to control your weight? Pay attention to the clock.)