CAN VEGETABLE EXTRACTS BLOCK FAT ABSORPTION?

Nutrition experts at the University of Aberdeen believe adding vegetable extracts to processed food will prevent fat from being absorbed into the body. They haven't proven this yet, but intend to test the theory using a turkey and beetroot burger.

Professor Garry Duthie from the University’s Rowett Research Institute of Nutrition and Health who is leading the research said: “Processed food forms a major and increasing part of our diet. Consumption of high fat convenience foods in Scotland increases year by year.

"When we eat a fatty food, a process called oxidation occurs in our stomachs, where fats are transformed into potentially toxic compounds and absorbed into the body. These compounds are linked to cancer and heart disease," says Professor Garry Duthie from the University’s Rowett Research Institute of Nutrition and Health."We believe that adding a vegetable extract such as beetroot, which contains antioxidant compounds, will stop this oxidation of fat in the gut, and prohibit the body from absorbing the bad fat."

Duthie also believes vegetable extracts will help prolong the shelf life of processed foods.

The nutrition team is currently seeking males between the ages of 21 and 60 to test the turkey/beetroot burgers' effect on fat absorption.