CHORIBar Program

The CHORI-bar fills gaps in poor diets and is a serious dietary intervention to improve health. The CHORI-Bar is also tool of scientific inquiry which helps further understanding of how dietary components interact with metabolism. From the perspective of disease risk, the problem with poor diets is as much due to what they do not contain, as to what they do contain.

The CHORI-Bar is a product of over 10 years of development in collaboration with the USDA, has more than 15 clinical trials, a patent pending, and contains only 125 calories with no added sugar (weighing 30 grams).

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Learn more...


Click here to see the video: "CHORIBar: Micronutrients, Fiber & Polyphenols In a Bar" (58:25)


Click here to see the video: "Dr. Bruce Ames Talks CHORI-Bar Weight Loss" (8:53)

Short video clips CHORIBar press releases The History of the CHORIBar

The CHORIBar Development Team

  • Bruce Ames, PhD
  • Ashutosh Lal, MD
  • Joyce McCann, PhD
  • Michele Mietus-Snyder, MD
  • Mark Shigenaga, PhD
  • Jung-Hyuk Suh, MPH, PhD
  • USDA Collaborators: Tara McHugh & Don Olson

Current Projects of the CHORIBar Team

  1. Can the CHORI-bar, by improving metabolism naturally, without drugs, secondarily improve quality of life of individuals with the co-morbidities of obesity, such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension?

    A clinical trial in obese adolescent asthmatics has been initiated, in collaboration with Dr. Karen Hardy (link to her webpage) who directs the Pulmonary Medical Group at CHO, and led by Dr. Mustafa Bseirki, a pulmonary fellow. A brief description of the study follows.

    Obese asthma is now generally considered to be a distinct asthma phenotype. Responses to standard asthma treatments (e.g., corticosteroids) are altered in obese asthmatics in ways that, while not yet well understood, appear to involve altered metabolism rather than purely mechanical complications due to obesity (e.g., airway mechanics). Recent evidence suggests that asthma prevalence and severity are increased as a function of worsening metabolic dysregulation common in the obese -- specifically, insulin resistance, increased oxidative stress, dyslipidemia, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. However, there have not yet been controlled interventions to test whether improving these metabolic imbalances will have an ameliorative effect on existing asthma symptoms. In collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), we have developed a low-calorie, nutrient-rich supplement bar consisting of a fruit matrix containing essential vitamins, minerals, soluble and insoluble fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and other ingredients. This supplement bar has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, antioxidant defenses, and dyslipidemia. We propose to conduct a 6-month randomized clinical trial within a pre-tested family-based intervention model to evaluate effects of bar consumption in addition to conventional care on asthma control and quality of life in obese adolescent asthmatics. The subject and one parent will participate in interactive sessions for diet and activity modification with or without nutritional bar supplementation. The primary outcome will be improvement in the asthma control (ACT) score. Secondary outcomes will include quality of life, spirometric evaluation, exercise tolerance, and exhaled NO. Changes in weight, insulin sensitivity, redox status, lipid profiles, and several indicators of inflammation including altered arginine metabolism and a cytokine panel will also be measured. A successful outcome will provide preliminary evidence for an RO1 to conduct a large-scale trial, and may also shed light on underlying mechanisms linking the metabolic dysregulation of obesity and asthma.

  2. Deconstruction of the bar to determine which major ingredients or combinations of ingredients are responsible for improvements in biomarkers linked to disease.

    Following suggestions in our recent publication (Mietus-Snyder et al, 2012), a series of in-house small clinical trials are aimed at broadening the disease-related biomarkers improved by the CHORI-bar and deconstructing the bar to determine which major ingredients or combinations of ingredients are responsible for improvements in biomarkers linked to disease, such as HDL. We are also interested in identifying mechanisms by which the CHORI-bar elicits these changes. Click here for a short video clip discussing these trials.

  3. Can the CHORI-bar aid in weight reduction and can it, by making people feel better, motivate them to transition to healthier eating habits?

    Anecdotal results from our 11 clinical trials strongly suggest that the CHORI-bar is very satiating and regular consumption has elicited feelings of well-being in many participants. These findings suggest the bar may be effective in promoting weight loss and in transitioning people to healthier eating habits, but testing these hypotheses will require randomized controlled trials. We are working with the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Processing Unit in Albany, CA to develop a placebo bar to be used in these trials.

Current Projects Based on Bruce Ames Triage Theory

Collaborations have been initiated with Dr. Janet King (link to her webpage) and Dr. Larry Gold at Somalogic, Inc. (link to Somalogic webpage) to explore effects of modest zinc deficiency on plasma proteins, and, following our publication on vitamin K (McCann & Ames, 2009), with Dr. Jung Suh in our group to measure the relative sensitivities of plasma vitamin K-dependent proteins to vitK deficiency. With Drs. Ames and Suh, Dr. McCann is also initiating a literature-based analysis and discussion of potential longevity vitamins. Learn about the Triage Theory in greater detail by clicking here.

Is the CHORI-Bar commercially available?

After more than 12 years of research, the CHORI-bar has been shown to be a precisely formulated, nutrient-rich, fruit-based supplement bar that significantly improves key features of the metabolic dysregulation of obesity and its related co-morbidities. A U.S. patent application claiming CHORI-bar formulations, composition-of-matter and uses was filed in 2009. CHORI-bar’s dietary approach, naturally efficacious without undesirable side effects, has the potential to provide a healthy alternative to drugs for treatment of obesity-related conditions. In January 2018, Keen Growth Capital, an impact investment fund that focuses on new food and beverage brands and technologies that improve health and wellness, acquired the patent rights to the CHORI-bar. “We were attracted to this non-prescription intervention that targets gut health and inflammation through optimizing intake of micronutrients, fiber and healthy fatty acids,” says Jerry Bello, co-founder and managing partner of Keen Growth Capital. “We believe the marketplace desperately needs new science-driven alternatives to address the alarming rise of obesity and related diseases. This was the right paradigm-shifting intervention for us to back and we believe will bring positive change on a global scale.” The CHORI-bar formula has been preserved as the core component of Healright Micronutrition Bars, developed by the Advanced Micronutrition division of Keen. They are now available for purchase at Healright.com.