Metabolic and satiating effects and consumer acceptance of a fibre-enriched Leberkas meal: a randomized cross-over trial.

PURPOSE: The Western diet is poor in dietary fibre and previous efforts to increase fibre intake were not successful. The aim of this study was to develop sensorically appealing, fibre-enriched convenience foods. As a showcase, we prepared a fibre-enriched, fat-reduced Leberkas served in a roll and compared the reformulated product with the standard product. METHODS: The design was a randomized, single-blinded cross-over study. A Leberkas meal enriched with 19.2 g of wheat fibre and resistant dextrin as well as fat- and energy-reduced (30% less calories) was served to 20 middle-aged healthy volunteers (10 male, 10 female) and compared to the standard product in a random order. Blood was repeatedly taken over a 4 h period to measure metabolic parameters as well as satiety hormones, such as glucagon-like-peptide 1, cholecystokinin, peptide YY. Satiety and consumer acceptance of the fibre-enriched meal were assessed by visual analogue scales and a questionnaire. RESULTS: The fibre-enriched meal showed very small significant effects at only single time points in postprandial blood glucose (at 120 min, p = 0.050) and glucoseAUC fibre 22,079 ± 2819, standard 22,912 ± 3583 (p = 0.030). The profiles of satiety hormones were comparable between both meals. No differences in subjective satiation, taste and consumer acceptance were observed between the two products, despite a marked reduction in fat and energy content of the reformulated product. CONCLUSION: It is possible to enrich a popular convenience product with dietary fibre and to markedly reduce energy content without loss of sensory qualities or satiety suggesting that development and promotion of healthier convenience foods may be a useful strategy to tackle obesity and other diet-related diseases.

Contrast in the electron spectroscopic imaging mode of a TEM. IV. Thick specimens imaged by the most-probable energy loss.

When the zero-loss transmission falls below 10(-3) for biological sections of mass-thickness greater than 70 micrograms/cm2, the energy window in the electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) mode of an energy-filtering electron microscope (EFEM) can be shifted to the most-probable energy loss of the electron energy-loss spectrum. This enables mass-thicknesses up to 150 micrograms/cm2 or thicknesses of 1.5 microns to be examined. Electron energy-loss spectra of thick carbon films calculated by a Fourier method agree with experimental spectra. Measurements of the electron energy-loss spectroscopy and ESI image intensities with an additional platinum film confirm a scattering model for the calculation of the image intensity. This model considers the angular broadening at the most-probable energy loss by introducing an effective illumination aperture of the order of the full-width at half-maximum of the angular distribution.