Chocolate bars with whole grains and protein offer a convenient way to manage hunger throughout the day, but they may also help promote weight loss, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of Navarra found that people who consumed protein bars enriched with collagen—a protein found in connective tissue—lost twice as much weight as those who didn't, even though they consumed the same amount of calories.
The head of the research, Dr. Paola Mogna-Peláez, said collagen is an easy-to-obtain and inexpensive protein that can keep you fuller for longer and is an alternative to powerful weight loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
"Many weight loss drugs are very expensive," said Dr. Mogna-Peláez – reports GazetaExpress.
“We were interested in collagen because it is a protein that is cheap and easy to obtain and is not known to have any side effects.”
The researchers studied 64 overweight and obese adults, with an average weight of around 13 stone (82 kg), aged 20-65, over a 12-week period.
All participants received advice on a healthy diet, based on the Mediterranean diet—known for its menu of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—before the study began.
The rest of the volunteers were instructed to eat two chocolate-flavored protein cereal bars fortified with 10g of collagen per day, with a glass of water before lunch and dinner.
Both groups consumed the same amount of calories.
The collagen, which is extracted from cows, was modified to help it absorb more water in the intestines.
“Importantly, the structure of collagen can be modified to enable it to absorb more water, which leads to its increase in size,” explained Dr. Mogna-Peláez.
"We wanted to know if such an ingredient creates a feeling of satiety when it goes into the stomach, reducing appetite and leading to weight loss," she added.
Cereal chocolates are available for purchase in supermarkets, experts write.
Before the study began, participants completed a questionnaire about their appetites and underwent a series of body measurements and other basic tests.
Participants were measured regularly throughout the study.
After 12 weeks, those who ate two collagen-enriched protein bars a day had lost twice as much weight as the control group—about five pounds (2.27 kg), compared to two and a half pounds (1.13 kg).
The researchers also found that the group that consumed collagen had a significant drop in blood pressure.
Both groups consumed the same amount of calories.
Collagen, extracted from cows, was modified to help absorb excess water in the intestines.
“Importantly, the structure of collagen can be modified to enable it to absorb more water, which leads to its increase in size,” explained Dr. Mogna-Peláez.
"We wanted to know whether such an ingredient creates a feeling of fullness when it expands in the stomach, reducing appetite and leading to weight loss," she added.
Dr. Mogna-Peláez said: “Our results show that, by swelling in the stomach, collagen made participants feel less hungry, which led to eating less and thus weight loss.”
"Collagen may also have helped build muscle, and we know that muscle burns more calories than fat."
"It's also possible that collagen changes the composition of bacteria in the gut, which could help with weight loss and appetite control."
This comes as a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga found that the effects of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic are short-lived if patients do not maintain a healthy lifestyle after stopping the medication.
The study, by researchers at the University of Oxford, found that patients often returned to their original weight within 10 months after stopping the injections.
The head of the research, Professor Susan Jebb, said: "These drugs are very effective in helping to lose weight, but when they are stopped, the weight comes back much more quickly than [after stopping] diets."
She added that patients lack "behavioral strategies" to stop themselves from overeating when they stop using the drugs.
Speaking at the conference, experts said the obesity crisis cannot be solved with weight loss injections alone.
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that people regain weight after using GLP-1 drugs without seriously trying to improve their lifestyle. Using GLP-1s is not a quick fix as many users think,” said Tam Fry, president of the National Obesity Forum.
Around two in three adults in the UK are currently overweight or obese, giving the country one of the highest obesity rates in Europe.
Last year, a worrying report also suggested that Britain's obesity crisis has driven a staggering 39 per cent rise in type 2 diabetes in young people under 40, with 168,000 Britons now living with the disease.
Overweight and obesity have also been linked to at least 13 types of cancer and are the second biggest cause of such diseases in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK. /Express newspaper/
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