Overview

• Researchers at Sichuan University created pH‑responsive beads from green tea polyphenols, vitamin E and an alginate coating that expand in the gut and bind dietary fats for fecal removal.
• In a 30‑day high‑fat diet rat study, treated animals lost about 17% of body weight and showed reduced adipose tissue, lower blood fats and less liver damage versus controls.
• Compared with orlistat in rats, the beads increased fat excretion without diarrhea, with animals passing swollen, fat‑laden beads within hours.
• An investigator‑initiated early human trial at West China Hospital has officially enrolled 26 participants to assess safety and initial efficacy.
• The team reports a manufacturing partnership and says all ingredients are food‑grade and FDA‑approved, with human outcomes, nutrient‑absorption effects and regulatory clearance still unproven and preliminary data anticipated within about a year.