MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- A cut in calorie intake combined with consuming the "fake fat" product olestra seems to help boost the body's ability to get rid of toxins such as PCBs and dioxin, according to researchers at the University of Cincinnati.
In research with mice, they found that a combination of dietary olestra and caloric restriction caused a 30-fold increase in the rate of excretion of a test toxin.
The study also found that yo-yo dieting causes toxins to get redistributed in body tissues. But the test toxin's distribution "into the brain resulting from the restricted diet was reduced by 50 percent by dietary olestra," the researchers said.
The findings appear in the online issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
In previous research, the scientists used olestra to treat a patient with PCB toxicity. After two years, there was a dramatic decrease in the PCB levels in the patient's fat tissue. The results of the study haven't been published.
More information
The U.S. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has more about dioxins.
