Is this powder the secret to making you slim?

It sounds too good to be true, but scientists believe they have developed a powder that can quash over-eating.

The natural food supplement makes people feel fuller sooner, and could help overweight people from piling on the pounds, they claim.

In tests, overweight people ate nearly a sixth less from an all-you-can-eat buffet when they added the new powder to their meals.

They also had higher levels of appetite-suppressing hormones in their blood.

It contains an ingredient called propionate, which stimulates the gut to release hormones that act on the brain to reduce hunger.

Propionate is produced naturally in the gut when dietary fibre is fermented by microbes that live there.

The active ingredient in the new food supplement, called inulin-propionate ester (IPE), provides much larger quantities of propionate than people can acquire with a normal diet. 

The study, carried out by Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow, found that the powder is effective at preventing weight gain in overweight volunteers.

Their experiment involved 20 volunteers given either IPE or inulin, a fibre found in the diet, and were allowed to eat as much as they liked from a buffet.

Those given IPE ate 14 per cent less on average, and had higher concentrations of appetite-reducing hormones in their blood.

Next, 60 overweight volunteers took part in a 24-week study in which half were given IPE as a powder to add to their food and the other half were given inulin.

One out of 25 given IPE who completed the study gained more than three per cent of their body weight, compared with six out of the 24 given inulin.

None of the IPE group gained more than five per cent of their body weight, compared with four in the inulin group.

After 24 weeks, the IPE group also had less fat in their abdomens and livers compared with the inulin group.

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