Recent studies suggest that the monounsaturated fats in olive oil and other heart-healthy oils help regulate hunger. The researchers say the findings could help develop new drugs to curb appetite.
Daniele Piomelli, professor of pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues found that in the gut of rats, oleic acid is turned into a fat messenger called oleoylethanolamide (OEA).
OEA produces a special kind of fullness, Piomelli says: it starts a chain of events that stimulates nerves in the gut, which send a message to the brain that the gut is full. This is different from compounds that make you eat less during a meal. Injecting OEA directly into rats' guts reduced their appetite.
The problem is that once OEA is broken down, the feeling of fullness ends. So the team suggests developing a drug that slows the breakdown of OEA in the body, keeping the feeling of fullness for longer, reducing appetite and helping weight loss.
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