fiber & protein: a dynamic duo
It looks like 2014 is shaping up to be protein’s big year. That was certainly the takeaway from the recent IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo in New Orleans, where protein ingredients and product concepts generated buzz among industry insiders from booth to booth across the trade show floor.
The buzz is for good reason: Protein increasingly tops Americans’ list of “must-have” nutrients. Unlike sugar and fat, which have come under criticism from consumers and health experts alike, protein enjoys a pristine reputation thanks to its well-documented contributions to sports nutrition, muscle growth and maintenance, healthy aging, and an all-around balanced diet.
Attracting particular attention is protein’s role in satiety and weight management—matters of concern to a nation in which Gallup1 finds that just over half of all adults are trying to lose weight. And numerous studies have, in fact, demonstrated protein’s ability to promote healthy body weight, increase thermogenesis, improve body composition, and tamp down food cravings following its consumption.
But promoting protein isn’t the only strategy for satiety success. Dieters and nutrition researchers have long known that fiber’s bulk and ability to slow gastric emptying leave consumers feeling full longer. And studies now show that fiber stimulates satiety-inducing hormones like protein does—hormones that tell the feeding centers of the brain, “Enough.” In one clinical study,2 subjects who consumed soluble fiber in the form of Fibersol-2® not only experienced prolonged fullness and delayed post-meal hunger compared to those consuming a control, they also increased their production of the satiety hormones PYY and GLP-1.
That makes protein and fiber a dynamic duo for weight-management formulation. According to the IFIC Foundation’s 2014 Food and Health Survey,3 53 percent of Americans are trying to get a certain amount of protein—or as much as possible—into their diets, and 50 percent of Americans are striving for the same goal with fiber. Opportunities for dynamic product development are the logical next steps.
Those opportunities start with Fibersol-2. Not only does it deliver a concentrated 90 percent minimum dry solids basis soluble dietary fiber to formulations, it also enhances sensory qualities that when added to its satiety factor, leave consumers really satisfied—qualities such as improved mouthfeel in reduced-sugar and reduced-fat applications, an imperceptible flavor of its own, and even the ability to mask the bitterness and off-notes that can accompany proteins and high-intensity sweeteners. In fact, ADM can deliver the total fiber and protein ingredient package that you’re looking for to successfully develop products to meet consumers’ hungry demand for satiety.
The entire family of Fibersol ingredients provides healthful fiber and functional appeal to a range of applications, including binding and sweetening bars, adding crispness to fiber-enhanced crackers, and extending the shelf life of everything from baked goods to RTE cereal puffs. And they do it all while contributing very little viscosity, withstanding the high heat of everything from baking to extrusion, and needing only minimal formulation and processing adjustments. Fibersol-2 is even a go-to option for boosting fiber in protein-rich beverages, shakes and smoothies. It goes into transparent aqueous solutions at levels as high as 70 percent w/w while remaining stable in acidic conditions (pH 2) and elevated temperatures. Perhaps that’s why it makes such a winning contribution to the protein-rich, fiber-enhanced, chocolaty dairy beverage described on the following pages.
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1. http://www.gallup.com/poll/166082/americans-desire-shed-pounds-outweighs-effort.aspx
2. Higher Dose Fibersol-2 Increases Subjective and Biochemical Measures of Satiety When Ingested with a Meal Compared with Control or Lower Consumption, Suzanne Hendrich, Zhong Ye, Visalakshi Arumugam, Esther Haugabrooks, and Patricia Williamson-Hughes, 9th Vahouny Fiber Symposium, June 2010 (www.nsresearch.org/abstracts_revised_master_5-31-2010.pdf)