Polytetrafluoroethylene Ingestion as a Way to Increase Food Volume and Hence Satiety Without Increasing Calorie Content

Abstract

Since satiety is largely due to stretch of the stomach and people tend to eat a consistent weight of food, increasing food volume and mass increases satiety. This can be achieved without increasing the calories of food by mixing food with a material that cannot be metabolized. Such a material should be inert, safe, resistant to stomach acid, lack taste, available in powder form, smooth, resistant to heat, and cost effective. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an ideal substance for this purpose. It is a soft plastic that is widely considered to be the most inert material known and is extremely stable. Animal feeding trials showed that rats fed a diet of 25% PTFE for 90 days had no signs of toxicity and that the rats lost weight. This article publishes the data from these subchronic animal feeding trials, reviews the relevant available literature, and hypothesizes that increasing the volume of food by mixing the food with PTFE powder at a ratio of 3 parts food to 1 part PTFE by volume will substantially improve satiety and reduce caloric consumption in people.

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