Can protein bars act as weight loss dietary supplements? Important facts to know |

A current Spanish research, offered on the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025), suggests collagen-enriched protein bars might support weight loss. Overweight people consuming these bars misplaced twice as a lot weight in contrast to a management group. Participants additionally skilled diminished blood stress, waist circumference, and improved liver perform.

Protein bars are completely adored by health fans. They are available in all sizes, shapes, and flavours. Many go for protein bars as a fast breakfast or snack possibility. The protein content material promised on the label is the foremost purpose for its recognition amongst health fans. But what if a protein bar might show you how to lose weight? According to a brand new Spanish research, protein bars have proven potential as a weight-loss support.New analysis being offered at this yr’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) and revealed within the journal Nutrients means that protein bars containing collagen may very well be a protected and efficient weight-loss complement. Collagen, a protein generally present in connective tissue. The researchers discovered that people with chubby and weight problems, who ate protein bars enriched with collagen, misplaced twice as a lot weight in contrast to those that didn’t eat them. The contributors additionally confirmed a discount in blood stress, waist circumference, and enchancment in liver perform.They might also have elevated skeletal muscle and fat-free mass.

“Many weight loss drugs are very expensive. 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. It is also a compound that the public is familiar with. Crucially, collagen’s structure can be modified to allow it to absorb extra water, which leads to it growing in size. We wanted to know if such a compound creates a feeling of fullness when it expands in the stomach, reducing appetite and leading to weight loss,” researcher Dr Paola Mogna-Peláez, of the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, mentioned in a press release.

The researchers performed a 12-week randomized managed trial in 64 adults aged 20 to 65, with a mean physique mass index (BMI) of 29.65. All contributors have been suggested to observe a Mediterranean-style weight loss plan. Half the group was moreover requested to eat a chocolate-flavored protein bar containing 10 grams of collagen with water earlier than lunch and dinner. The collagen, which got here from cows, had been handled to soak up additional water, in order that it might enhance in measurement when consumed with water.At the tip of the research, the protein bar group misplaced a mean of three kilograms (6.6 kilos), in contrast to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 kilos) within the management group, regardless of each teams consuming the identical variety of energy.

The collagen group felt much less hungry and fuller than the management group. Levels of leptin, a hormone that induces emotions of satiety, fell in each teams however have been greater within the collagen group than within the management group. No unwanted effects have been reported.Previously, collagen has proven decreased ranges of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates urge for food, in animal experiments. The complement additionally swelled to virtually 20 occasions its authentic measurement in abdomen acid and had low digestibility.

“Our results indicate that, by swelling in the stomach, the collagen made the participants feel less hungry, which would have led to them eating less and so losing weight. Collagen may also have led to the participants building muscle, and we know that muscle burns more calories than fat. It is also possible that collagen changes the make-up of bacteria in the gut, which may aid with weight loss and appetite control,” Dr Mogna-Peláez mentioned.