Pepsi Special claims to block the body’s ability to absorb fat. How does that work?
By Stephanie Warren Posted 11.13.2012 at 1:03 pm 7 Comments

Pepsi Special Suntory

Soft drinks and weight loss don’t usually go hand-in-hand. But Pepsi aims to change that with a new drink the company has just launched in Japan, called Pepsi Special. The soft drink has an added ingredient, dextrin, that the distributor, Suntory, says reduces your body’s ability to absorb fat. So does that mean you can finally enjoy your soda with a slice of cheesy pizza, hold the guilt?

A 2006 Japanese study indicated that rats fed dextrin and fat at the same time absorbed less fat than rats that weren’t fed dextrin. The Japanese government certifies Pepsi Special and another dextrin-containing soda, Kirin Mets Cola, as “foods for specific health use.” But what works for rats may not work for people, and anyway, “There’s no study that shows that putting dextrin in a beverage is going to cause weight loss. After all, soda has a fair amount of calories,” says Joan Salge Blake, a nutrition expert for Boston University and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Dextrin is a type of fiber. Soluble in water, and with a low viscosity, it should not negatively impact the mouthfeel of the beverage. Eating a diet rich in fiber can certainly have health benefits, says Blake. Because fiber stays in the stomach longer, keeping us feeling full, it can help decrease appetite, she says. And fiber attaches to some of the cholesterol in the digestive tract, preventing the body from digesting it and possibly helping lower blood cholesterol levels. But it isn’t clear that a dose of fiber in a drink will provide those effects. That requires "a fair amount of fiber, and from multiple sources,” says Blake. Suntory has not released nutritional information on Pepsi Special, nor disclosed whether it will be released in the United States.

Pepsi Special isn’t the only beverage with purported health benefits on the horizon. Coca-Cola recently announced that it will partner with French company Sanofi to launch four drinks claiming to do everything from improving your skin to fighting aging.

[Suntory]

7 Comments

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Robot
11/13/12 at 2:30 pm

Just in case you wanted to know....

www.livestrong.com/article/499266-what-is-wheat-dextrin/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22429361

www.helpforibs.com/supplements/sol_fiber1.asp

www.jafra.gr.jp/eng/nansyouka.html

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ender7718
11/13/12 at 2:58 pm

right so now we're suppose to believe that a company that allows cancer causing aspartame, HFCS and caramel coloring into their products are all of the sudden worried about your health?

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Chelle12
11/13/12 at 3:16 pm

@ender7718,

"Reviews have found no association between aspartame and cancer."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy#Cancer

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dkella
11/13/12 at 11:25 pm

this is the chemical structure of aspartame.

http://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures---A/Aspartame-Chemical-Structure.htm

this the chemical structure of formaldehyde

http://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures---F/Formaldehyde.-eHV.htm

there is a tremendous industry invested in aspartame, wikipedia can be modified by anyone, it is not a credible source, i could modify it to say all bunnies are purple, and enough people agreed with me, they would keep changing it back and agreeing with each other.

fact is aspartame converts to formaldehyde when it hits your salivary enzymes. Then your body shoves it in a fat cell to prevent its toxic effects, and enlarges it to ensure it doesnt escape. Aspartame makes you fatter and causes cancer. (in my opinion ) I know many people who get migraines from aspartame, if they are given diet by mistake it is quite painful. Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and more have definitive links to aspartame, as well as other chemical accumulating in the fats in the myelin sheaths.

http://andevidencelibrary.com/topic.cfm?cat=4089&auth=1

this is a good link, they do not believe that it causes cancer but it clearly explains the chemical reactions, agreeing that it breaks down into formaldehyde and methanol. its good to look at both sides, rather then parroting what you read.

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Chelle12
11/14/12 at 4:33 am

dkella,

Hey, hey, I'm not a parrot, I looked it up what 'ender7718' had to say, without any further opinion. And yes wikipedia may not be 100% secure but on high-profile topics it usually is, if there would be any peer-reviewed article published proving that it would give cancer, than I'm sure it would show up on that wiki-page.

Second that page you liked to make little to no sense in relation with you write, you couldn't have linked to a worse page to defend your case, here is a quote from that page:

"The problem with many of the "aspartame toxin" stories is that they contain just enough science to make them sound plausible. Unless one understands the science, it is hard to figure out what is right. The short reply to this allegation is that it doesn't make any difference if there is ethanol in fruits and vegetables or in aspartame-sweetened products, because none provide enough methanol to cause toxicity."

Regarding getting a migraines from aspartame that I can believe, but chances are that it's psychosomatic. Just like me not getting what I want can give me a headache as well.

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Far Out Man
11/14/12 at 6:03 am

Sorry, I'll take aspartame over killer sugar any day. I consume large amounts of diet pop every day, and feel quite fortunate to have an alternative to sugar that still tastes good. Yes, it won't help you lose weight but last year I still managed to lose 75 lb. while drinking as much diet pop as I wanted (i.e. the pop did not affect the weight loss one way or the other).

Back to the article, I'm guessing this "fiber" cannot be added to diet pop as it would void the zero cal claim. Can't help wondering is this is the new "olestra" which sounded great at first and then went downhill (I think you have it in potato chips in the States). Bad enough if it spoils the taste but "should not negatively impact the mouthfeel ..." does not sound promising. Haven't they taste-tested this stuff enough to know for sure???

@dkella
No you can't say bunnies are purple. That comment just tells everyone that you don't know anything about Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is an excellent resource. If you are researching a topic and have concerns about the validity of the information shown, you can check the reference material and/or look at the View History and Talk pages to see revisions and discussions. What other encyclopedia allows you to do that? Before you just had to accept whatever they put in the books ... oblivious to the fact that bias was often involved.

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Robot
11/14/12 at 8:47 am

Mmmmm, clean, refreshing and can be cold too, H20, delicous diet water. YumMY!!!



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