Failure of oral glycerol treatment to induce weight loss in obese humans

To test the hypothesis that glycerol controls body fat mass, 8 obese humans were placed on a balanced calorie restricted diet and given oral glycerol disguised in fruit juice 3 times a day during 8 weeks of a 16-week double-blind placebo-controlled study. Glycerol was given in doses of 80 mg/kg (3 subjects), 160 mg/kg (3 subjects), or 360 mg/kg (2 subjects) and equicaloric amounts of glucose were used as the control. The subjects were seen weekly to measure toxicity, appetite and weight. There was no observed toxicity or significant difference in weight or appetite between the glycerol treatment and control periods. These results do not support the hypothesis that glycerol controls body weight in humans and cast doubt upon the potential of glycerol for the treatment of obesity.