SCIENTISTS from the North-East have identified seaweeds which are most effective at preventing us from absorbing fat.

The discovery by a team at Newcastle University opens up exciting possibilities for making everyday foods healthier.

Alginates are already used in foods, such as stabilisers in jam and to maintain the head on a pint of beer. However, their potential as a food supplement which prevents us absorbing fat is now being explored.

In the West, 40 per cent of calories come from fat and while we need some fat in our diet, many of us eat too much.

Between 95 to 100 per cent of the fat we eat is digested by lipase, an enzyme that the body uses to break down fats. If we can reduce the amount digested, we reduce the amount absorbed.

New research published in Food Chemistry and funded by BBSRC has identified the chemical properties of alginates which prevent fat from being digested by our bodies. If added to everyday foods these seaweeds could prevent us absorbing much of the fat from our diets.

Professor Jeff Pearson of Newcastle University's Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences said: “We have already added alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging. Now the next step is to carry out clinical trials to find out how effective they are when eaten as part of a normal diet.”

This builds on previous work by the team which found that alginate, a natural fibre found in sea kelp and one of the world’s largest commercially-used seaweeds, could reduce the amount of fat available for absorption by the body by around 75 per cent. This is better than most anti-obesity treatments currently available over the counter.