The glucomannan in konjac powder cannot be digested and absorbed by the human body, so it is indeed zero calories. There is no problem with the propaganda of Konjac powder zero calories, so is it true that it improves satiety?

To answer this question, we need to return to the chemical structure of the glucomannan contained in konjac: cellulose. Furthermore, glucomannan belongs to a branch of cellulose: water-soluble cellulose. As the name suggests, it dissolves well in water and can even absorb 50 times its own weight in water, creating a gelatinous texture.

The powerful absorbent properties of konjac powder make people believe that konjac powder can enhance satiety. When we eat a small amount of konjac powder, it can absorb a large amount of water in the digestive tract and start to expand, greatly increasing its volume, thus making us feel full.

So do the data from clinical trials support this speculation?

In a randomized, cross-controlled experiment, researchers presented 16 healthy subjects with three different types of noodles in the same volume: pure pasta (442kcal calories), half pasta and half konjac (259kcal calories), and pure konjac (77kcal calories). After the noodles, the subjects were allowed to eat as much dessert as they wanted.

The researchers found there was no difference in the amount of dessert the subjects ate, despite the differences in calories. And in the 90 minutes after eating the noodles, the subjects’ hunger and expected food intake decreased, and their satiety increased, compared with the subjects who ate the pure pasta plus or half pasta and half konjac noodles.

The results of this experiment showed that eating the same volume of konjac noodles, but with fewer calories, provided more satiety than eating normal noodles for a short period of time.

Gluten-free Konjac noodles boost feelings of satiety and weight loss.