Further research on Enova

The Enova brand cooking oil, produced jointly by ADM and Japan's Kao, has been shown to increase the body's ability to burn fat and may also improve appetite control and energy balance, according to new research.

Scientists at Maastricht University in the Netherlands report that healthy women who replaced normal vegetable oil with Enova oil saw a significant increase after only one day in the oxidation or burning of fat, and after the second day a significant decrease in the desire to eat.

This is thought to be an effect of the high DAG (diglyceride) content (80 per cent) in Enova Oil, compared to regular vegetable oils, which are mainly composed of triglycerides, suggests the study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition​. The oil can be substituted for regular vegetable and olive oil in most food applications.

"This independent study provides additional and compelling evidence that Enova Oil has the potential to be a very important weapon in the fight against obesity,"​ said Tony DeLio, corporate vice president of marketing at ADM. "Not only is more Enova Oil burned directly as energy rather than being stored by the body as fat, but it also appears to suppress appetite."​

The trial studied 12 healthy, dietarily unrestrained women. For three days before and throughout a 36-hour stay in a respiration chamber, subjects were fed a diet consisting of 55 per cent of energy from carbohydrate, 15 per cent from protein, and 30 per cent from fat. In the respiration chamber, 40 per cent of the fat was consumed either as DG-rich Enova oil or as a normal triglyceride (TG) control oil with a similar fatty acid profile.

Fat oxidation was significantly higher with DG treatment than with TG treatment. Appetite profiles during the first day did not differ significantly between the DG and TG treatments; however, feelings of hunger, appetite, estimated prospective food intake, and desire to eat were all significantly lower on day two with DG treatment.

ADM Kao introduced Enova Oil​ earlier this year in certain US markets, and it has been available in Japan since 1999, where it is the best-selling bottled oil in the Japanese market and has also found its way into salad dressing and mayonnaise. It has been pitched as a 'revolutionary' new cooking oil, although research on other healthy cooking oils is well under way, and it will not be long before other products hit the market.