Researchers believe that the food supplement ingredient propionate can prevent weight gain, according to a new study. 

The food supplement was tested in a small study that appeared to prevent weight gain and trim fat around the waist although it doesn't necessarily prevent losing pounds, reported CBS News. 

Propionate, the ingredient in question of the food supplement, is a fatty acid that's created when fiber ferments in the colon. It's used as energy by the colon and liver, to make glucose in the liver appears to boost signals that suppress appetite - making people eat less. 

For the study researchers developed a compound that includes propionate and gave it to half of 20 volunteers, while the other half only had inulin, a plant fiber.

The volunteers were then instructed to eat all they wanted from a buffet. Once they were done eating the researchers concluded that those who'd consumed the propionate ate 14 percent less on average than the others, CBS News reported.

Although propionate doesn't directly cause weight loss, a study showed it was able to successfully "lower appetite and prevented weight gain in overweight people," study co-author Gary Frost, chair of nutrition and dietetics at Imperial College London, said to CBS News. "This is the first time that a food ingredient has been shown to decrease weight gain." 

The study, which was funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, was published Dec. 10 in the journal Gut.