Fighting Fat

Seaweed could be the latest weapon in tackling the obesity crisis according to British scientists who’ve found it reduces fat absorption by up to 75 per cent. Experiments at Newcastle University revealed that when seaweed is added to fatty foods such as bread, cookies and yoghurt, it dramatically cuts the amount of fat absorbed by the body. The key to this discovery is the natural fibre alginate, commonly found in sea kelp. “This suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily – such as bread, biscuits and yogurts – up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body,” Dr Ian Brownlee told The Telegraph. “We have already added the alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging. Now the next step is to carry out clinical trials to find out how effective they are when eaten as part of a normal diet.” He says that seaweed may be more effective than current treatments for obesity as increasing your intake of alginates is more of a means of “weight management” than a miracle cure. Especially as it has real scientific evidence to back up its use.