Sound Nutrition

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.6 billion adults and 20 million children under fi ve years old in 2005 were overweight globally, and 400 million were found to be obese.

A person is deemed to be overweight if his/her body weight exceeds a standard, ideal body weight. This excess weight could be due to large muscle mass, as seen in bodybuilders and certain athletes. However, an overweight person more often has a higher percentage of body fat than people in the normal weight range.

The risks

Obesity refers to an excess of body fat and it is usually encountered in people who are overweight. A common measure of obesity is called body mass index (BMI), which is based on a measure of one’s body weight against his/her height. In descriptions of BMI distributions in populations, the terms “overweight” and “obese” usually refer to increasing degrees of relative body fat. WHO estimates that by 2015, 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and 700 million will be obese.

The personal and societal costs of obesity-related diseases are enormous. Obesity increases one’s risk of developing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and osteoarthritis. According to American Diabetes Association in Diabetes Care in 2009, it estimated that individuals who are obese have a 10- 50% increased risk of all-cause mortality, which is mainly due to cardiovascular disease.

People exceeding a BMI of 40 risk death from cancer, which are 50% higher in men and 60% higher in women than in their normalweight counterparts. Obesity is a risk factor for one to develop Type 2 diabetes – a disease that is expected to increase by 50% in the next 10 years, according to Center for Disease Control in 2007. A study at Oxford Journal in 2006 has found that obese women at 18 years with a BMI of above 35 have a seven-fold increased risk of developing severe hip osteoarthritis when they are older.

Managing weight

Weight management is an ongoing process where a person needs to successfully balance his/her caloric intake and energy output so as to control the rates of accumulation or loss of body fat. This tough balancing act requires periodic assessment and the fi ne tuning of strategies because a small absolute defi cit in energy need or excess would lead to signifi cant changes in fat mass over time.

A reduction in caloric intake is often not accompanied by a parallel reduction in micronutrient needs. Dieters should therefore have a nutrient-rich diet in order to protect their nutritional status and health. In practice, this is extremely diffi cult to achieve given the common food choices made by most dieters that encourage the development and marketing of micronutrient-fortifi ed products. Dieters may for example increase their consumption of vegetables, thereby increasing their intake of vitamins such as folate and vitamins A and K. They may however shun higher caloric foods such as dairy products, eggs, red meats and vegetable oils, thereby lowering their intake of minerals such as calcium, zinc, selenium, vitamins D, E, B12, and essential fatty acids.

The so-called satiety ingredients or appetite suppressants are also becoming popular among consumers. These ingredients are intended to help dieters achieve or enhance the sense of fullness after a meal. This will in turn help dieters stay positive and have the will power to minimize snacking in between meals. Some ingredients that are generally recognized to help enhance this ‘full’ feeling include Hoodia gordonii, protein, oligofructose, palm oil, oat oil and various green leaf extracts.

Targeted products and applications

To promote healthy weight loss, a signifi cant reduction in dietary caloric intake and an increase in energy expenditure are needed. Such measures are often diffi cult to achieve and sustain by many, leading to feelings of failure and frustration.

Functional food products that are designed for weight loss and long term weight management can however facilitate consumers’ fi ght against obesity. They include supplements and pre-portioned meals and snacks, meal replacement bars, dietary waters and smoothies.

These products need to be consumer friendly, organoleptically pleasing, nutritionally sound, reduce total caloric and fat calorie intake, and promote increased intake of dietary fi ber and other complex carbohydrates. They also need to be appropriately fortifi ed to provide a safe and effi cacious mix of micronutrients and biologically active functional food components. Besides weight loss products, these specifi cally designed products are also needed for consumers to gain or maintain body weight in order to combat chronic and debilitating catabolic illnesses.

‘Fad’ weight loss ingredients

While everyone is looking for the ‘magic bullet’ to promote weight loss without caloric restriction, scientists have yet to fi nd this Holy Grail, although there are many pretenders to the throne such as ephedra. Also called Ma Huang, the ingredient is a naturally occurring plant-derived substance that has a principal active ingredient called ephedrine, which is regulated as a drug when it is chemically synthesized.

In recent years, ephedra products have been extensively promoted as an aid to weight loss. However, the FDA ruled that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury. Table 1 shows a list of ingredients that, although have shown some promise to potentially target obesity and weight loss, they have yet to be clinically proven to do so.

The future

Adding multiple ingredients to food and supplements can improve consumers’ health and manage their weight, while creating more marketable products for companies. As consumers are mindful of their state of health and wellness, thereby infl uencing buying behavior, enhanced waters, meal replacement bars, functional beverages, fortifi ed cookies and crackers, and organic foods are set to grow in popularity.

To successfully introduce new products to the marketplace, manufacturers also need to lay a firm foundation at the start of the development process. This should include partnering with experienced nutritional premix formulators in order to minimize the challenges associated with bringing their products to market that live up to label claims for repeat purchases, brand protection and relevance.

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