It sounds like another fad diet promising unrealistic and unattainable results: sprinkle a little of this special diet powder on your food, and you can lose up to five pounds a month. While five pounds a month isn’t as extreme as some fad diets claim, it still seems hard to believe that sprinkling a supplement on your food could help lose weight. Yet that’s exactly what the creators of the the sprinkle diet claim. Is this yet another fad diet attempting to trick consumers, or does it have actual merit?

What is the Sprinkle Diet?

The sprinkle diet is not actually a diet plan in the traditional sense, so the name can be a little misleading. The program requires dieters to sprinkle some flavor-enhancing diet powder on all their meals throughout the day. This powder is made of a combination of maltodextrin, tricalcium, phosphate, silica, and flavoring. The powder contains no calories, sugar, sodium, or gluten, and comes in a variety of flavors—from sweet ones such as cocoa, strawberry, and raspberry to savory flavors like onion, Parmesan cheese, and ranch dressing. The powder is used similar to sugar or salt: just sprinkle a little bit on your food to improve the taste. However, it differs in a fundamental way: the powder was developed by scientists to encourage a feeling of fullness, meaning that you can eat less and feel full sooner.

The powder works takes advantage of your sense of smell, causing your stomach to send the signal to your brain that you’re full and you don’t need to eat anymore. Additionally, the flavor-enhancing qualities of the powder are supposed to encourage users to focus more on the taste of their food so that they enjoy it and eat more slowly. Research has shown that people feel full with less food when they eat at a moderate pace rather than a quick one.

Does it Actually Work?

The sprinkle diet seems to be based on sound physiological principles. If you consume fewer calories because you feel full sooner, you’re more likely to induce a caloric deficit and start shedding pounds. However, research on the connection between the powder and feeling of satiety are somewhat inconclusive. While studies have been conducted that demonstrated a relationship between using the powder and losing weight, the research was sponsored by the company that created the diet plan. It goes without saying that such research could be biased. Additionally, the studies have not been published in medical journals, which means they haven’t been reviewed by other scientists to ensure that their methodologies are sound and their conclusions are accurate. Nutrition experts have pointed to the lack of independent research on the powder as a warning sign that it may not be as effective as claimed.

If the powder does truly work to reduce appetite, then there’s no reason why it couldn’t be used in weight loss programs which focus on reducing calories and increasing exercise. However, until there are more thorough diet reviews that prove the powder’s effectiveness, the sprinkle diet should be approached with caution.