Study II: Secondly the aim is to study the effects of a daily intake of a placebo or alginate-containing beverage on body weight and composition in a randomised parallel intervention study of 12 weeks duration. A total of app. 50 obese healthy adults will receive a hypocaloric diet and be randomised to consume either placebo or alginate-containing beverage before each of the three main meals every day. The development in body weight and composition and blood pressure will be monitored and blood samples will be analysed for markers related to the risk of CVD and type 2 diabetes.