Fibre in beverages can enhance perceived satiety

A high intake of dietary fibre has been suggested to support the regulation of energy intake and satiety, which could contribute favourably to the increasing obesity problem.

To investigate the effects of three fibres differing in chemical and physical properties on perceived satiety and hunger-related attributes.

A total of 19 healthy volunteers, age 18-30, mean BMI 23.2 kg/m(2) participated in the study. Measurement of food and satiety-related perceptions with ten attributes was performed by using 10-unit graphic intensity scales during a 120 min period after the ingestion the sample. The attributes evaluated were satiety, hunger (unipolar and bipolar scale), appetite, fullness, desire to eat something/sweet/savoury/the sample food and thirst. The sample foods used were a beverage without fibre, a guar gum beverage, a wheat bran beverage, an oat beta-glucan beverage and wheat bread was used as the control. The fibre content of the samples was 0 g (beverage without fibre), 2.4 g (wheat bread), 7.8 g (guar gum) or 10.5 g (wheat bran and oat beta-glucan beverage) per 400 g/1,000 kJ portion.

The area under curve (AUC) for perceived satiety was higher (169 vs. 83 cm min; t test P = 0.026) and the desire to eat was lower (AUC -179 vs. -83 cm min; t test P = 0.008) for the guar gum beverage as compared to the beverage without fibre. Also the beverage with oat beta-glucan increased fullness and showed a trend of increasing perceived satiety and decreasing the desire to eat more than the beverage without fibre.

Our results support the idea that dietary fibre in beverages can enhance their perceived satiety and decrease the desire to eat more than a beverage without fibre.