Forbes Medi-Tech adds cholesterol-fighting cooking oil

Forbes Medi-Tech, the Canadian firm which produces the cholesterol-lowering ingredient Phytrol, has added a new product to its range of healthy products - a cholesterol-cutting cooking oil.

The company said that a clinical study of the oil conducted at McGill University in Montreal showed that 24 healthy men on a controlled diet showed a statistically significant decrease in total body weight tissue volumes in the range of 0.36 to 0.51 kg over a 28 day period.

Study participants who received olive oil in their diet (control group) did not demonstrate any changes in body compartment volumes. In addition, consumption of the Forbes 'designer' oil resulted in a decrease of low density lipoprotein (LDL or 'bad') cholesterol concentrations of 16.3 per cent.

"This is the first statistically significant data demonstrating the designer oil's ability to reduce body weight. Generally, fats and oils contribute to body weight gain not reduction. Forbes' designer oil could be used as a fat replacement for people trying to manage their weight with the added benefit of reducing LDL cholesterol levels, and thus providing a protective effect against cardiovascular disease, a significant risk factor for overweight people,"​ claimed Dr Jerzy Zawistowski, vice president, nutraceuticals and functional foods at Forbes Medi-Tech.

"The study findings also indicate that long-term consumption of designer oil may lead to further body weight reduction than shown in the 28 day study."​

Forbes claimed that its oil had demonstrated good sensory properties and oxidative stability and that it was suitable as a cooking oil. The company is currently in discussions with food companies in both North America and the Far East who have shown an interest in marketing the oil. Sales of healthy cooking oils in Japan alone reached ¥20 billion (€0.17bn) in 2001, Forbes said.

.The oil is formulated with medium chain triglycerides (MCT), plant phytosterols, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. "Medium chain triglycerides are metabolised in the body differently than other types of fats,"​ said Dr Peter Jones of the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at McGill University. "These oils are oxidised very quickly and burned as energy rather than stored as body fat. The inclusion of plant phytosterols into the oil helps block the absorption of cholesterol resulting in a significant reduction in total and LDL cholesterol."​

The designer oil clinical study involved 24 healthy men aged 26 to 61 years with body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 31 kg/m. Study participants were placed on a controlled diet of designer oil or olive oil for 28 days and switched to the alternate diet after a four-week washout period. Blood samples and magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken on days one and 29 of each experimental phase and energy expenditure was measured by respiratory gas exchange on days two and 28.

This was the second clinical study Forbes has conducted on designer oil. In a study of 17 healthy, overweight women conducted between October 1999 and May 2000, the designer oil diet reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 14.5 per cent with a corresponding increase in energy expenditure. Forbes commissioned the latest study to determine whether the increased energy expenditure seen in the original study was statistically indicative of weight loss. The results of the new study confirm this.

Results of this new designer oil clinical study were presented at the International Society for the Study of Fats and Lipids (MP) American Chemical Society Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, on 5-6 May 2002. Study results will also be presented to the Institute of Food Technology in Anaheim, California, on 15-19 June 2002, and the International Oil Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, on 12-15 August 2002.