Low calorie bulking agents.

Obesity, a common disorder causing excess mortality due to the development of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, respiratory illness, and diabetes, is difficult to control by simple dieting techniques. Low calorie foods, which can facilitate newer weight reduction approaches such as behavior modification, often lack adequate palatability due to the absence of carbohydrate or fat. Various low calorie bulking agents that can replace the traditionally used carbohydrates and fats are discussed in terms of caloric value, utility, and regulatory status. Methods of measuring caloric utilization of bulking agents in test animals and humans are evaluated. For fat, no really satisfactory replacement is currently available, although several promising are under development. Dietary fiber sources such as microcrystalline cellulose are receiving considerable attention as flour replacements. While the polyols have many desirable attributes, as sucrose replacements, their caloric utilization values generally prevent a significant caloric reduction when they are used in foods. Several experimental sucrose replacements are described.