USE OF WHEY PROTEIN MICELLES FOR ENHANCING ENERGY EXPENDITURE AND SATIETY

Abstract

The present invention relates to whey protein micelles for use in the treatment and/or prevention of overweight and/or obesity in a subject. The invention relates also to a non-therapeutic use of whey protein micelles to increase satiety and/or postprandial energy expenditure in a subject. A further aspect of the invention is a food composition to be administered to an overweight or obese subject, or to a subject at risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. The methods and compositions disclosed herein.

Description

[0020] FIG. 1: Plasma concentrations of essential amino acids 3 h after the ingestion of meal replacements comprising whey protein isolate, whey protein micelles or micellar casein.

[0021] FIG. 2: Plasma concentrations of leucine 3 h after the ingestion of meal replacements comprising whey protein isolate, whey protein micelles or micellar casein.

[0022] FIG. 3: Plasma concentrations of essential amino acids 3 h after the ingestion of meal replacements comprising each one of the 7 different proteins.

[0023] The present invention pertains to whey protein micelles for use in the prevention or treatment of overweight and/or obesity in a subject, wherein the whey protein micelles are administered to said subject in combination with a meal.

[0024] Most meals comprise proteins from a milk, plant and/or animal source and hence upon consumption lead to a postprandial aminoacidemia, i.e. an elevated concentration of amino acids in the plasma of the consumer. It is now of an advantage, to combine the administration of whey protein micelles in combination with such a meal. Thereby, the postprandial plasma amino acid peak resulting from the proteins present in the meal adds up to the postprandial amino acid peak resulting from the whey protein micelles which are delayed by ca. 30 min in respect to the first amino acid peak. Thereby, the overall resulting high aminoacidemia is extended and prolonged in time. This in return is most favorable for maximally stimulating and increasing the postprandial energy expenditure and energy partitioning to improve body mass composition and control body weight of a subject.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment, the meal comprises whey protein isolates, native or hydrolyzed milk proteins, free amino acids, or a combination thereof. As known from earlier studies, a whey protein meal exhibits a significantly stronger thermic and larger energy expenditure effect on subjects than for example a plant protein meal. Therefore, advantageously, the whey protein micelles are combined with a meal comprising whey proteins in the form of WPI or milk. Advantageously, the meal can be even further supplemented with free amino acids in combination with the whey or milk proteins to optimally induce a strong plasma aminoacidemia effect upon consumption of said meal.

[0026] In a further embodiment, the whey protein micelles are provided as part of the meal in the form of a beverage, nutritional composition, bar, flakes or as pellets. Those forms of food product applications are ideal for incorporating whey protein micelles in a sufficient quantity for providing the desired effect and still be acceptable by a consumer in view of the organoleptic aspect.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment, the whey protein micelles are administered to a subject in a daily dose of at least 20 g dry weight, preferably of at least 30 g dry weight. Those doses should assure a sufficient daily quantity for providing the desired effect to a subject in at least a mid-term period.

[0028] The whey protein micelles for use according to the invention pertain to a subject which is a child or an adult human being. Alternatively, the subject is an animal, preferably a cat or a dog. Prevalence of obesity is mostly observed in adult humans. However, more and more children are affected as well and/or are already at risk of becoming overweight or obese later in life. Hence, advantageously, prevention and/or treatment of overweight is started already in young age. Alternatively, and similarly as observed with humans, obesity is more and more widespread among animals, particularly with animals kept as pet animals. Hence, the invention preferably also pertains to cats and dogs.

[0029] A further aspect of the present invention is the non-therapeutic use of whey protein micelles to increase satiety and/or postprandial energy expenditure in a subject, and particularly to enhance lean body mass and/or decrease body fat mass. A still further aspect of the invention is the non-therapeutic use of whey protein micelles to help maintaining a healthy body composition after weight loss.

[0030] It is an advantage of the present invention that whey protein micelles can also be administered to healthy subjects which may be at risk of developing overweight. In fact, whey protein micelles or a food composition comprising whey protein micelles as disclosed herein provide healthy humans and animals with increased satiety and/or increased energy expenditure after consumption of said whey protein micelles. The effect is due to the herein disclosed sustained and prolonged hyper-aminoacidemia postprandial effect. Further, this effect is most favorable for improving body mass composition, such as enhancing lean body mass, and controlling body weight by decreasing for example body fat mass. It is a legitimate desire also for healthy subjects to stay healthy and slim.

[0031] A further aspect of the present invention is a food composition comprising whey protein micelles, wherein the food composition is to be administered to an overweight or obese subject, or to a subject at risk for becoming overweight or obese; and wherein the food composition comprises the whey protein micelles in an amount of at least 15 wt %, preferably of at least 20 wt % of the total dry weight of such food composition.

[0032] In a preferred embodiment, the food composition comprises 15-50 wt % proteins, 10-15 wt % lipids, 25-50 wt % carbohydrates and 5-10 wt % fibers of total dry weight.

[0033] A still further aspect of the present invention is a pet food composition comprising whey protein micelles.

[0034] Those skilled in the art will understand that they can freely combine all features of the present invention disclosed herein. In particular, features described for the therapeutic uses of the whey protein micelles may be combined with those of the non-therapeutic uses, and vice versa. Idem, the features of the therapeutic and non-therapeutic uses may be combined with the features to the food composition, and vice versa. Further, features described for different embodiments of the present invention may be combined. Further advantages and features of the present invention are apparent from the figures and examples.

EXAMPLE

[0035] A randomized double-blind 7-arm crossover study was performed in twenty-three healthy men in the following way. A test meal replacement was ingested at lunch time on 7 separate occasions separated each by a wash-out period of one week. The meal replacements were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. They were composed of the tested protein (30 g, 7.2% w/w), lipids (11.7 g, 2.8% w/w), carbohydrates (42.7 g, 10.2% w/w) and fibers (6.3 g, 1.5% w/w). The tested proteins were: (1) whey protein isolate (WPI); (2) whey protein micelles (WPM); (3) extensively hydrolyzed whey protein (EHWP); (4) micellar casein (ICP); (5) extensively hydrolyzed casein protein (EHCP); (6) total milk proteins (TMP); and (7) extensively hydrolyzed milk proteins (EHMP). The meal replacements were completed with water to 430 mL and contained 388 kcal per serving.

[0036] Arterialized venous blood samples were taken, via a catheter inserted into a wrist vein of the volunteers, before and for 3 h after consuming the test meal replacement. Plasma samples were used to analyze amino acids by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0037] Firstly, the results confirmed that intact whey protein induces a higher aminoacidemia than micellar casein. Secondly, it was found that the peaks of the postprandial plasma amino acid concentrations after consumption of the WPI and WPM test meal replacements, although similar in extent and height, were delayed by approximately 30 min, i.e. occurring at 120 min rather than at 90 min. This allowed maintenance of an elevated concentration of plasma amino acids for a prolonged period of time after the ingestion of the whey protein micelles (FIGS. 1 to 3: small dotted lines).