Study backs satiety benefits of PinnoThin

The peer-reviewed study, which was funded by Lipid Nutrition, was published last month in the BioMed Central journal Lipids in Health and Disease.

It was designed to complement existing research on Korean pine nut oil, which has already been shown to increase the release of the satiety gut hormones cholecystokinin (CCK).

However, until now there had been no information on whether PinnoThin can actually reduce food consumption.

The current study found that PinoThin at 2g of free fatty acid (FFA) taken 30 minutes before a meal reduced food intake by nine per cent.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool also tested PinnoThin at doses of 2g, 4g and 6g triglyceride (TG), which was not found to have any effect on reduced food intake.

The study involved 45 overweight women and was conducted between June 2006 and February 2007.

The women were aged between 18 and 65, and had a BMI of 25-30.

The four weight loss supplement doses were administered in a counterbalanced sequence, each treatment separated by a week.

The study was double-blind and also used a placebo control group, which was given olive oil.

The supplement doses were given 30 minutes before a buffet test lunch.

Amount of food and water was recorded before and after meals to ascertain intake.

Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) were used to rate degrees of hunger, fullness, satisfaction, desire to eat, perception of how much participants could eat (prospective consumption), thirst and nausea.

VAS consist of 100 mm horizontal lines anchored by 'not at all' and 'extremely' at opposite ends, upon which participants record with a vertical line their subjective ratings.

The researchers found that participants taking PinnoThin FFA had a decreased intake of both energy content and food consumed.

With 2g PinnoThin FFA, gram intake was reduced by 9 per cent.

This corresponded to a 7 per cent (50 kcal) reduction in energy intake, although the energy reduction was not statistically significant.

No differences between PinnoThin and the placebo were seen at the evening meal, suggesting that there is no compensation for the lesser food intake during Lunch, said the researchers.

In addition, no effect was produced by any of the three doses (2g, 4g or 6g) of the PinnoThin TG.

The researchers concluded that PinnoThin FFA produced a reduction in gram food intake consistent with previously reported effects on appetite and CCK response.

"The lack of significant effects of PinnoThin TG on food intake and appetite does not necessarily suggest that the TG form is ineffective," they wrote..

"Comparative data on PinnoThin FFA and TG forms has become available since the study design which suggests that the TG produces a delayed response on gut hormone release.

The time taken for TG to break down into FFA form in the human gut is unknown, and this could explain the delay.

Similarly the effects of TG on gut hormone release appear to differ in magnitude."

Lipid Nutrition extracts the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid pinolenic acid from the seeds of the Korean pine nut tree ( Pinus koraiensis ), one of more than 140 varieties of the nut, which also grows in China.

The oil contains pinolenic acid, linolenic acid, and oleic acid.

Source: The effect of Korean pine nut oil (PinnoThinac) on food intake, feeding behaviour and appetite.

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial Lipids in Health and Disease 2008, 7 :6 doi:10.1186/1476-511X-7-6 Authors: Georgina M Hughes, Emma J Boyland, Nicola J Williams, Louise Mennen, Corey Scott, Tim C Kirkham, Joanne A Harrold, Hiskias G Keizer,Jason CG Halford