Low Fat Ingredient Olestra may Rid the Body of Toxins

A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Cincinnati shows that the snack food ingredient olestra has been found to speed up the removal of certain toxins in the body.

This zero-calorie substitute that has typically been used in low-calorie snack foods, including Pringles, can reduce the levels of serum polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in people exposed to them. High levels of PCBs have been known to be linked to hypertension and diabetes.

"The findings showed that the rate of PCB disappearance from the participants that ate olestra was markedly faster during the one-year trial than that before the trial," said principal investigator Ronald Jandacek, PhD, an adjunct professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at UC's College of Medicine, via a press release. 

For the study, researchers examined 28 people who had known high levels of PCBs for a yearlong study. Half of the participants consumed 12 Pringles a day made with vegetable oil while the other half consumed 24 Pringles a day made with olestra. Each serving size varied.

"The findings showed that the rate of PCB disappearance from the participants that ate olestra was markedly faster during the one-year trial than that before the trial," Jandacek said, via the release. 

Findings showed that half of those who ate the olestra chips had their PCB rate decrease by 8 percent. Those who had the vegetable oil chips, on the other hand, only saw a 1 percent increase in PCB removal rate.

"Olestra's effect on PCB removal is apparently the result of solubilizing fat-soluble compounds like PCBs in the intestine and the solubilization reduces absorption of these compounds into the body,"Jandacek said.

The findings were recently published in the April edition of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.