Studies with sucrose polyester.

Sucrose polyester (SPE) is a lipid synthesized from sucrose and fatty acid methyl esters. SPE has physical and organoleptic properties that closely resemble triglycerides, but it is not hydrolysed in the intestine and therefore not absorbed. By providing a persistent lipophilic phase in the intestine, SPE reduces the absorption of lipophilic substances such as cholesterol. SPE leaves the stomach more rapidly than triglyceride oils, presumably because of the absence of an effect on duodenal receptors. In studies with obese subjects, dietary SPE reduced total and LDL cholesterol by reducing the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine. In a study, in which SPE was covertly substituted for dietary fat, ten obese subjects in a weight-loss regimen did not increase dietary intake to compensate for the energy removed from the diet by SPE substitution. In a similar study with five naive, obese subjects, the investigators concluded that the mean energy intake decrease during SPE treatment [184 (769 kJ) kcal/d] was not significant. SPE continues to be studied as a means of reducing energy intake.