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A synthetic compound already found in many foods may slow fat absorption enough to reduce the risk of diabetes among fans of fast-food.

Research in the United States found that hamsters fed a high-fat diet were able to resist the health effects of the food when it was also laced with the compound, which is both odorless and tasteless.

This is not a weight-loss miracle, the lead researcher stresses, because the hamsters still got fat. But at least they didn't become insulin resistant, Dr. Wally Yokoyama told globeandmail.com Tuesday, which is a precursor for type 2 diabetes.

The compound added to the hamsters' food -- a soluble cellulose made by Dow Chemical and known as HPMC for short -- has been used for decades as a texture modifier in fillings, sauces and glazes. Adding a small amount more to all prepared foods, perhaps using it in place of other fibres, could help reduce the health risks of a fatty diet, the research suggests.

Dr. Yokoyama, a research chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture, said that his findings have yet to be published because some of the work remains to be done. But they are complete enough that he was to present his work to the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

He said that findings suggest that the body can manage only so much fat at a time. Small amounts can be absorbed by the small intestine or stomach but ingesting larger amounts of fat, to the point when the body is “overloaded,” leads to absorption by the liver, heart and pancreas instead.

That can lead to cell damage and possibly diabetes.

“This research is pretty important because it shows that it's not the total amount of fat or the kind of fat, it's how fast the fat gets into the body,” Dr. Yokoyama said from California, explaining that a fast-food meal contains too much fat for the body to handle.

He said that he worked with several groups of hamsters. He compared animals eating a diet in which 38 per cent of calories came from fat (meant to replicate the typical American diet) with those getting only 11 per cent from fat. As expected, the high-fat group developed insulin resistance. But when animals on the high-fat diet were given HPMC in addition to their food they did not show the same health effects.

It is unclear exactly how HPMC works, the researcher conceded, but he believed it acts as a regulator that slows the absorption of fat. Then, having done its job, it is excreted.

Since this compound has been present in human food for decades, Dr. Yokoyama doesn't anticipate any ill effects if higher doses are present. And it won't take much, he said, probably only about five grams a day.

Human research is next and a functional food additive could be available within one or two years. But Dr. Yokoyama stressed that this is not a magic pill for unhealthy living.

“I would certainly recommend that you eat any kind of food in moderate amounts and exercise,” he said. “[This] certainly won't help you from becoming overweight but we think it will slow down the disease process.”