Yeast hydrolysate can reduce body weight and abdominal fat accumulation in obese adults

Introduction 

The metabolic risks associated with obesity are closely correlated with a central (abdominal), rather than a peripheral (gluteo-femoral) fat pattern [1]. Abdominal obesity, which is manifested by an increased waist circumference, abdominal subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat, is associated with a high risk for heart disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus [2]. Abdominal fat is also a symptom of metabolic disorder and is an indicator used to predict the prevalence of the diseases[2], [3]. Abdominal fat is now generally believed to be the deposit that conveys the largest health risk.

Recently, yeast hydrolysate, which is acquired from Saccharomyces cerevisiae via protein hydrolysis, has attracted significant attention as a useful anti-obesity supplement [4], [5]. Yeast hydrolysate reportedly has significant body fat-suppressive effects in humans: Yeast hydrolysate increases the reduction of body fat in obese individuals compared with placebo, which supports the hypothesized abdominal fat-lowering effects of yeast hydrolysate [4], [6].

However, most of these human trials were conducted either on a small scale (< 50) or over a short period (< 6 wk) or were age/sex-biased (just young women). Furthermore, the abdominal fat in individuals supplemented with yeast hydrolysate has never been estimated based on computed tomography (CT) measurements, which are known as the gold standard for measuring the amount of abdominal fat [7], [8]. Therefore, we observed the effects of yeast hydrolysate on the accumulation of abdominal fat via CT measurements of obese men and women ages 20 to 50 y for 10 wk.

http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(13)00101-9/fulltext