Enjoy your favourite food guilt-free

Eating less and moving more are the basics of weight loss. Others turn to prescription weight loss drugs to fight obesity. However, such drugs may have side effects.

Studies by Dr SONG Zhixuan, a research fellow working with Prof HUANG Dejian at the Department of Food Science and Technology, open the way to a promising alternative.

Dr Song and his team screened over 300 tropical medicinal plants and vegetables for lipase inhibitory activity. Such activity blocks lipase, an enzyme in our body that digests fat, from doing its work.

Drawing on his findings, Dr Song developed a patent-pending technology to extract specialised functional ingredients from plants which reduces calories absorbed from dietary fat, thereby reducing the health risks of consuming high-fat food. 

The team has secured funding from NUS’ Graduate Research Innovation Programme to start up Liloss, which develops functional foods and nutraceuticals from natural ingredients.

Dr Song says, “Liloss is made from vegetables we have eaten for hundreds of years…there is great potential for functional foods that cater to health-conscious consumers.”

This initiative has since evolved into an interdisciplinary project with the Department of Biological Sciences and the College of Design and Engineering (CDE).

The team plans to launch Liloss as a dietary supplement, and develop its ingredients to make them suitable for incorporation into food products and beverages.

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