Scientists have created a biscuit that contains a special ingredient to help people lose weight.
That’s according to an early study that added a new ingredient to confectionary in an attempt to make people feel less hungry.
The team from the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy presented their preliminary findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain.
Researchers said they added a bitter compound from the Artemisia absinthium plant, also known as wormwood, to an ordinary dark chocolate biscuit.
A test on 11 healthy people revealed the bitter ingredient made participants feel fuller.
Participants were given two different formulas, one cocoa biscuit and the another which had an enriched bitter flavour using 16 per cent Artemisia absinthium extract.
Food cravings were then measured using a questionnaire on how full they felt after eating.
Researchers found those who ate the special biscuits felt less hungry and saw an increase in satiety hormones in comparison to those who ate the plain cocoa biscuit.
The bitter taste in the added compound regulates how the body releases the hunger hormone ghrelin and GLP-1, a hormone that also regulates blood sugar, appetite and digestion, study authors explained.
It’s also the same hormone targeted with weight-loss jabs like Wegovy and diabetes treatment like Ozempic.
This hormone reduces food cravings and slows down how quickly food is digested.
This can reduce the rate glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream. As a result, it makes those who take it feel fuller for longer, eat less and lose weight.
Study author Dr Flavia Prodam explained that all the people who ate the bitter biscuit reported lower hunger levels before dinner, but not at any other time of the day.
The biscuits which have been described as being “very tasty” could be sold commercially to help people lose weight, according to Dr Prodam.
The team now plans to launch a clinical trial to investigate how the biscuit affects food intake in obese patients.
Dr Prodam said: “This is an important thing to target because we need to educate people to eat less but there is a lot of failure. The emotional part of eating is important in obesity.
“People want comfort foods, so having one that decreases hunger could be a good strategy.”
