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16.11.2017

Alpha-linolenic acid-diacylglycerol steps up fat burning

People who consumed a couple of grams of alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol for a period of two weeks lost almost half a kilogram of body fat, according to a small study that researchers at the Japanese Kao Corporation published in 2016 in the Journal of Oleo Science. Mix the stuff with allulose, nutritional fibre like inulin and a whole load of protein into snack bars and you'll have a diet product that will make competitors turn pale. Can't miss.

Diacylglyceride versus triglycerides
A fat is made up of a globule [glycerol] with three strands attached to it [the fatty acids]. That's why fats are also called triglycerides. Researchers at the Kao Corporation in Japan have been doing experiments for years with an alternative to fat: globules with not 3, but 2 strands. These are called diacylglycerides. And when the strands are omega-3 fatty acids, these diacylglycerides have interesting properties.

Study
The Japanese got 16 participants to eat a cookie into which, instead of putting fat, they had secretly put 2.5 g alpha-linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol. The exact composition is shown here. On another occasion the same participants were given a normal cookie made using 2.5 g rapeseed oil.

Results
At the end of the supplementation period the researchers gave the participants a meal in which the fat had been labelled [13C] and then measured the amount of fat the participants burned by analysing the exhaled carbon atoms for a period of six hours. This led to the Japanese researchers' discovery that alpha-linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol [ALA-DAG] boosted fat burning.

After consuming alpha-linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol for 14 days, the participants had 400 g less body fat than they did after the period of consuming rapeseed oil.

Mechanism
"Repeated consumption of alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol enhances beta-oxidation in the small intestine [J Nutr. 2002 Oct;132(10):3018-22.] and liver [Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005 Apr 15;1733(2-3):224-31.] in rodent in rodents," wrote the researchers. "Although the precise mechanism by which alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol consumption stimulates gene expression is not clear, it may be related to the metabolic pathway of alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol."

"In general, the triacylglycerol structure is hydrolyzed by lipase to 2-monoacylglycerol and fatty acids and then resynthesized into triacylglycerol in the intestinal mucosa cells. In contrast, the diacylglycerol structure is hydrolyzed to 1- or 3-monoacylglycerol and fatty acids."

"Because 1-monoacylglycerol is not easily resynthesized to triacylglycerol in the small intestine [Lipids. 2005 Mar;40(3):281-6.] [Lipids. 2003 Jan;38(1):25-30.], the 1-monoacylglycerol and free fatty acids may remain in the intestinal mucosa cells after diacylglycerol consumption [Lipids. 2004 Sep;39(9):827-32.]."

"Omega 3 fatty acids, such as alpha linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid increase the gene expressions including farnesoid X receptor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor compared to other fatty acids, such as saturated and omega 6 fatty acids [Am J Cardiol. 2006 Aug 21;98(4A):27i-33i.], suggesting that the free alpha linolenic acid derived from alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol activates fat oxidation and suppress fat synthesis, particularly in the small intestine and the liver."

"Thus, diacylglycerol and alpha linolenic acid can synergistically affect fat oxidation. Indeed, Murase et al. suggested that beta-oxidation is higher in rodents fed alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol than in those fed alpha linolenic acid-enriched triacylglycerol. [J Nutr. 2002 Oct;132(10):3018-22.] Additionally, alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol can enhance fat oxidation at 25% of the dose compared to oleic and linolenic acid-riched diacylglycerol [Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Dec;32(12):1841-7.]."

Conclusion
"Treatment with alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol for 14 days enhanced the utilization of dietary fat as energy in healthy humans," the researchers concluded. "This result indicates that alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol consumption has beneficial effects for preventing visceral obesity by upregulating dietary fat metabolism."

Source:
J Oleo Sci. 2016 Aug 1;65(8):685-91.

More:
Omega-3 supplement can make you fitter, slimmer and more muscular 06.02.2016
Your body burns more calories after a meal with omega-3-fatty acids 06.03.2012
Fish oil capsules reduce fat rolls 01.11.2008

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