ORAFTI’s BeneoSynergy1 Helps Prevent Excessive Weight Gain in Non-Obese Adolescents

02/10/07 Well known for their benefits to bone and gastrointestinal health, a new study has shown the long-term benefits of ORAFTI Active Food Ingredients’ Beneo prebiotics in terms of modulating BMI and body composition changes during pubertal growth, and in terms of avoiding undesirable weight gain during this critical stage of life.

With obesity a major problem among today’s youth, and in light of the proven links between obesity and the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer, studies such as this are vital in finding ways to improve and maintain adolescent health toward present and future well being. 

The development of obesity through a persistent imbalance between energy (i.e., food) intake and energy expenditure is well researched and understood. BMI is commonly used to identify overweight and obese adults, adolescents and children.

Prebiotic supplementation studies have already shown that including inulin-type fructans such as BeneoSynergy1 in a person’s diet modulates the blood levels of powerful hormones involved in appetite regulation. Subsequent studies have shown that oligofructose increases satiety while reducing hunger and prospective food consumption, leading to a lower total energy intake during the day.

It goes without saying that healthy weight maintenance during the adolescent years is important to future health. The new findings from Dr. Abrams, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, et al. (published in the Journal of Pediatrics in September 2007), take us a long way toward understanding the long-term weight-maintenance benefits of consuming foods supplemented with Beneo Synergy1. The Abrams study is part of a larger intervention measuring bone health parameters as well.

The study involved 100 healthy, non-obese adolescents (aged 9-13 years), providing supplements of either 8 g/day of Beneo Synergy1 or a maltodextrin placebo (both via orange juice or milk) together with their breakfast for one year. The subjects were then kept under study for another year without the supplementation.

The increment in BMI over the intervention year was much lower for the BeneoSynergy1 group compared to the control group.  Body weight and body fat mass were also significantly lower in the BeneoSynergy1 group compared to the controls. The benefit to the BeneoSynergy1 group was greatest in the presence of adequate calcium intake. Also of interest was that in the follow-up period, the difference in BMI between the two groups was maintained and even increased after stopping the BeneoSynergy1 supplement for an entire year.

The findings are particularly interesting because BMI normally increases during puberty at a specific yearly rate. In this study, the subjects receiving BeneoSynergy1 had an increase in BMI consistent with normal increases during puberty.  However, those adolescents taking the placebo had much higher increase to their BMIs. The lower increase in BMI in the prebiotic group implies an overall regulatory effect on energy intake associated with BeneoSynergy1 supplementation.

This study thus demonstrates the potential of a dietary intervention with BeneoSynergy1 for beneficially modulating BMI and body composition changes during pubertal growth, and for avoiding undesirable weight gain during this critical stage of life.

Dr. Anne Franck, Executive Vice President of Science and Technology at ORAFTI, commented, “We have known for a long time the benefits of Beneo oligofructose in enhancing satiety and reducing energy intake.  This new research study highlights dramatically the benefits on body weight and composition that can be achieved by taking BeneoTMSynergy1 supplementation in puberty.”