A fat lot of use
Trimmings from farmed salmon are going to be fed to obese Norwegians, in a trial to test the effects a variety of proteins have on human health.
“If these proteins prove to have health beneficial effects this could lead to the better utilization of waste from aquaculture and fishing industry, as well as better prices for the offcuts,” says Oddrun Anita Gudbrandsen, a researcher at the University of Bergen, who is leading the experiment.
The trimmings are being fed to healthy but overweight 20-55-year-olds, who have a BMI over 27. The subjects will be divided into three groups, each of which will be given different kinds of fish protein – from either farmed salmon, cod or herring.
“We are in the process of testing out proteins from fish fillets and fish trimmings to see if there are any differences between them,” says Gudbrandsen
She has led several major projects that have examined whether consumption of fish proteins affect the health of humans as well as obese rats.
Previous studies on both overweight and normal weight participants have shown that fish protein has beneficial effects on blood fat and regulating glucose levels, but they know little about protein utilization in the obese, and therefore they want to investigate whether this is affected by different protein types.
“Studies in rats have demonstrated that protein sources can have beneficial health effects, although these health effects are different for different protein types,” says Gudbrandsen.
The forthcoming trial will last for eight weeks and participants will be tested for sugar tolerance and protein absorption at the beginning and end of the experiment. Weight, blood pressure, samples of faeces and urine will also be measured.
