Globin digest: no evidence for a weight loss mechanism.

This study was designed to document the mechanism through which globin digest, a dietary herbal supplement, might cause weight loss by exploring possible fat malabsorption, calorie malabsorption, energy expenditure, and fat oxidation. Six healthy subjects were placed on an outpatient diet for 14 days and given a meal containing 40.9 g of fat on days 5 and 11, and stools were collected for 72 hours after each meal for analysis of fecal fat content. Four grams of globin digest was given with one meal and placebo with the other. In another separate study, six subjects were placed on a 100-g fat, weight-maintaining diet for 14 days. All food was prepared by the Pennington Center (Baton Rouge, LA) metabolic kitchen. Globin digest (2 g) or placebo was given with each of three meals per day, and stool was collected for calorie determinations during the last 72 hours of each week. Subjects received globin digest during one of the 2 weeks and placebo during the other. Resting metabolic rate and respiratory quotient were measured on the last day of each 1-week period. There was no increase in 72-hour fecal fat or fecal calories by bomb calorimetry during either of the studies. There was no difference in the respiratory quotient. Globin digest did result in an increase in resting metabolic rate. However, this increase was not statistically significant. Globin digest, if effective, does not cause weight loss or fat loss through fat malabsorption or a relative increase in fat oxidation. Future studies are needed to document the efficacy of globin digest for weight loss in humans before further mechanistic investigation is attempted.