Simmondsin From Jojoba Checked for Appetite Suppression
Harvesting a natural appetite suppressant from jojoba
(pronounced ho-ho-bah) may give U.S. farmers one more reason to
grow the plant, which is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona
and Mexico. Jojoba oil is already a popular ingredient in
cosmetics and shampoos. But jojoba meal, left over after oil
extraction, was thought to contain compounds toxic to animals.
The reason: Weanling mice ate less and lost weight on a diet
containing 15 percent jojoba meal. In the 1990s, Belgian
researcher Marnix Cokelaere discovered that simmondsin acted as
a hunger satiation ingredient. This allowed him to reinterpret
earlier experiments with mice and cattle fed diets supplemented
with jojoba meal. Rather than being toxic, the ingredient
satisfied the animals' hunger, causing the decline in feed
intake. Cokelaere is now examining the prospect of a positive
outcome from the earlier negative results: a safe appetite
Researchers at the ARS National Center for Agricultural