Research

 

According to a research review paper published in 2021 in the scientific journal Nutrients, “Alcohol is energy-dense, elicits weak satiety responses relative to solid food, inhibits dietary fat oxidation, and may stimulate food intake. It has, therefore, been proposed as a contributor to weight gain and obesity.” (1)  Another research paper in the journal Critical Reviews in Clinical Lab Science 2005 provides, “The experimental metabolic evidence suggests that the consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol has to be accounted for in the energy-balance equation and may represent a risk factor for the development of a positive energy balance and thus weight gain.”(2) 

Scientists have long searched for a safe and effective way to prevent weight gain and/ or promote weight loss.  Although many medications have been developed to address these issues, almost all have significant limitations in the form of side effects and/or high cost. One food additive that has been used safely for many centuries does have the ability to prevent weight gain and promote weight loss but because of its bitter taste it has has had limited practical use.  That additive is hops (Humulus lupus) which are added during the production of beer for flavor, aroma, and slight bitterness.  Notably, the amount of the hops added to beer does not have anywhere near a high enough concentration to be effective in preventing weight gain.

In recent years, scientists have isolated a component of hops that prevents weight gain and promotes weight loss.  This component is called “bitter acids.”  By oxidizing the “bitter acids” in a unique way, proprietary way, the scientists at Phytogenica™, LLC, were able to produce a sub-component of the “bitter acids” that concentrates their weight preventing properties.  Phytogenica, LLC, named this patent-pending compound Adaphyte™.  Phytogenica, LLC  was able to further develop a process that reduced the costs and reduced the significant bitterness so that Adaphyte™ is an effective dose for for limiting weight gain when mixed with an alcoholic beverage, and its taste is virtually undetectable.   Previous researchers have used a thermal oxidation process that requires extended time and may not achieve complete oxidation.  The Adaphyte™ patent-pending process achieves complete conversion very rapidly without using harmful or toxic solvents.  The facility used to develop and manufacture Adaphyte™ has FDA certificates for both Good Laboratory Practice and Good Manufacturing Practice.

Although research has clearly shown that “bitter acids” from hops can cause weight loss in obese humans when taken daily for several weeks, (3) there has been no study of intermittent use of “bitter acids” on days of more frequent use of alcoholic beverages in “normal healthy” humans.

Methods:

Forty-four subjects, male and female aged 21 to below 55 years, who considered themselves “normal and healthy” but were considered to be moderate to heavy alcoholic beverage drinkers (consuming an average of 9 to 18 alcoholic beverages within a 72 hour period beginning on Friday and ending on Sunday consecutively for 6-weeks) were randomly assigned to two groups. During a 6-week ingestion period, the subjects in each group were asked to add 1.2 ml of test-supplement to their first alcoholic drink of each day beginning on Friday and ending on Sunday, either containing Adaphyte™ (75 mg concentrated oxidized hops compounds in an aqueous solution) i.e. the active ingredient, or a placebo aqueous solution without Adaphyte™. The primary endpoint was the prevention of weight gain and/or promotion of weight loss as determined by scales after adding Adaphyte™ to subjects’ first alcoholic beverage for three consecutive days (Friday through Sunday) for 6 weeks.

All subjects were instructed to not change their dietary patterns, daily activities, or exercise habits during the study.   

Three subjects did not complete the study.  Two in the active group developed COVID-19 during the study and one in the placebo group was unable to complete the weighing schedule.

Subject selection and data collection were done by an independent contract research company, and Adaphyte™ employees had no input other than furnishing the test product and placebo.  With the exception of “excessive alcohol-drinking behavior” the research company used the criteria described by Morimoto-Kobayashi et al (3) to select “normal healthy” subjects.  Labeling for the test product and placebo plus retention of the identifying “key” was done at the manufacturing laboratory, which was also independent of the research company and Adaphyte™ employees.  Data analysis was done by a PhD level mathematician with experience in medical statistics who is not associated with the contract research company or Adaphyte™.  The independent contract research company and mathematician were compensated by Adaphyte™ at their standard rates for conducting the study.

Results:

Over the six week study all of the subjects who used Adaphyte™ lost weight except for one subject whose weight was unchanged.  The average weight loss was 2.50 pounds.  In the Adaphyte™ group, the amount of weight loss was highly significant with a p value of <0.000000005.  In the placebo group, there were ten who gained weight, one who lost weight, and nine whose weight did not change.  In the placebo group the weight changes showed a weight increase of an average of 1.29 pounds.  This placebo group weight increase was statistically significant with a p value of <0.001.  Data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel.

None of the subjects in either group reported any side effects or other illnesses except for the two subjects who developed COVID-19.

Conclusions:

Although this small study of 41 participants would be classified as a proof of concept study, other larger studies have previously confirmed weight losses when mature hops bitter acids were used on a daily basis for twelve weeks. (3)  Our study shows evidence that using Adaphyte™ only on days of higher than normal ethanol intake over a period of six weeks not only prevents weight gain, but also result in weight loss.

References:

(1)  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34578805/

(2)  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16047538/

(3)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4784395