"A fruitbased micronutrient and fiberdense supplement bar the CHORIbar conceived by Drs. Bruce Ames and Mark K. Shigenaga at Childrens Hospital Oakland Research Institute CHORI was shown in clinical trials to improve metabolism in overweightobese OWOB otherwise healthy adults in ways that are consistent with reduced risk of type  diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Consumption of the bar for two months also reduced chronic inflammation and initiated a reduction in weight and waist circumference. Decreased inflammation and improved weight and weight distribution can lower the risk of many chronic diseases.  These effects occurred without requiring that participants make any change in their current diet or other lifestyle practices other than to eat two CHORIbars each day for two months. The CHORIbar is not just another nutrition bar. It is a serious intervention to improve health. Its composition is therefore complex and required a number of years and a series of clinical trials to develop. The publication describing this work appeared online today April   at The FASEB Journal http The bar was developed over the past  years by a team of scientists led by Drs. Bruce N. Ames and Joyce C. McCann at CHORI  in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture USDA.  Most people do not eat an optimally nutritious diet  particularly the obese. This results in unhealthy metabolism which not only diminishes vigor but increases future risk of many diseases. While poor diets contain much that is not healthy e.g. too much salt sugar they also are missing or deficient in a number of important components e.g. vitaminsminerals omega fatty acids fiber necessary for healthy metabolism. The CHORIbar is intended to fill these gaps with components present in the bar in normal dietary amounts.  Considerable evidence in the scientific literature including Drs. Ames and McCanns work on vitamins and minerals supports the idea that simply supplying missing or deficient dietary ingredients will improve metabolism . Development of the CHORIbar has also been guided by Dr. Mark Shigenagas insights into the importance of a healthy gut supported by optimal nutrition for disease prevention. Because of the strong flavors associated with some vitamins and minerals CHORI partnered with the United States Department of Agriculture to produce a tasty bar. Formulation development was guided by over  small clinical trials to ensure that beneficial properties of the bar were retained. Most early trials were two weeks in length and involved primarily lean individuals most of whom benefited by increased HDL cholesterol. Results presented in this publication are compiled from  twomonth clinical trials that also included a significant number of overweightobese individuals. These trials were conducted over a year period using very similar bar formulations. These trials employed a simple economical design in which participants acted as their own controls i.e. change in metabolic markers was measured before and after eating the bar. Healthy metabolism is like a complex smoothrunning machine. Unhealthy metabolism is like an old machine with many rusted out joints. There is no magic bullet ingredient in nutrition  oiling one joint is not going to allow the rusted out machine to run. The CHORIteam thinks the broad scale improvements observed with the CHORIbar may be the result of oiling multiple joints by the complex nutrient mixture. They are currently conducting experiments to better understand which ingredients in the bar are most important in the complex mixture for the observed effects.  The increasing prevalence of obesity is taking a huge toll on public health. Conventional approaches that encourage weight loss by improving dietary habits reducing caloric intake and modifying activity can be successful but prove difficult for many to initiate and sustain. The CHORIbar is intended as a nontraditional means to positively impact the obesity epidemic by initiating a healthier metabolism without requiring sudden drastic behavioral changes. It may therefore assist in weight loss programs by beginning a process of favorable metabolic change. Improved metabolism resulting from eating the bar is also associated with a number of reports of feeling better though this observation has not yet been formally tested which the CHORI team predicts will help people transition to improved lifestyle habits.  The power of nutrientrich properly formulated foodbased supplements such as the CHORIbar to move dysregulated metabolism in a healthy direction may help reverse obesityassociated conditions and thereby reduce the risk of future chronic diseases. The full potential of foodbased supplements to do the work of some drugs without their negative side effects is just beginning to be seriously investigated.  About UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland  UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland formerly Childrens Hospital  Research Center Oakland is a premier notforprofit medical center for children in Northern California and is the only hospital in the East Bay  devoted to pediatrics. UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland affiliated with UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital San Francisco on January  . UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland is a national leader in many pediatric specialties including cardiology hematologyoncology neonatology neurosurgery orthopedics pulmonology and sports medicine. The hospital is one of only five ACS Pediatric Level I Trauma Centers in the state and has one of largest pediatric intensive care units in Northern California. UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland has  licensed beds over  physicians in  specialties more than  employees and a consolidated annual operating budget of more than  million. UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland is also a leading teaching hospital with an outstanding pediatric residency program and a number of unique pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs.  UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oaklands research arm Childrens Hospital Oakland Research Institute CHORI is internationally known for its basic and clinical research. CHORI is at the forefront of translating research into interventions for treating and preventing human diseases. CHORI has  members of its investigative staff a budget of about  million and is ranked among the nations top ten research centers for National Institutes of Health funding to childrens hospitals. For more information go to http and http References  McCann J. C. Shigenaga M. K. MietusSnyder M. L. Lal A. Suh J. H. Krauss R. M. Gildengorin G. L. Goldrich A. M. Block D. S. Shenvi S. V. McHugh T. H. Olson D. A. and Ames B. N.  A multicomponent nutrient bar promotes weight loss and improves dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in the overweightobese Chronic inflammation blunts these improvements. The FASEB Journal in press March . MietusSnyder M. L. Shigenaga M. K. Suh J. H. Shenvi S. V. Lal A. McHugh T. Olson D. Lilienstein J. Krauss R. M. Gildengoren G. McCann J. C. and Ames B. N.  A nutrientdense highfiber fruitbased supplement bar increases HDL cholesterol particularly large HDL lowers homocysteine and raises glutathione in a wk trial. FASEB J  .  CHRCOCHORI . Pending United States patent application no.  owned by Childrens Hospital  Research Center Oakland California. Ames B. N.  Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. PNAS  .   Ames B. N.  Prevention of mutation cancer and other ageassociated diseases by optimizing micronutrient intake. J Nucleic Acids pli. doi..  McCann J. C. and Ames B. N.  Vitamin K an example of triage theory is micronutrient inadequacy linked to diseases of aging Am J Clin Nutr  .  McCann J. C. and Ames B. N.  Adaptive dysfunction of selenoproteins from the perspective of the triage theory why modest selenium deficiency may increase risk of diseases of aging. FASEB J  ."