Breakfast

Instant oatmeal more filling than oat-based cereal: Study

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Many people love ready-to-eat oat cereal in breakfast but they do not get the feeling of “fullness”. If that is the case then you can switch to instant oatmeal.

A new research has shown that instant oatmeal is more filling than oat-based cereal.

Researchers said that eating a bowl of instant oatmeal for breakfast is more satiating and it helps in managing hunger better than the same amount of calories from oat-based cereal, even when consumed in smaller portions.

Oatmeal has unique characteristics that have an impact on fullness and desire to eat even when matched for calories and ingredients with another breakfast option.

“We found instant oatmeal to be more effective at suppressing appetite compared to the cold cereal, even with a smaller serving size and less calories than previously investigated,” said Frank Greenway from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

During his experiment, 43 healthy men and women completed the randomised, controlled crossover investigation over their breakfast habits.

The results showed that the participants reported less hunger compared to the RTE cereal after they ate the instant oatmeal.

Instant oatmeal also provided increased fullness and a reduced desire to eat more.

Researchers state that the viscosity of instant oatmeal was higher than the RTE cereal which could explain the differences in hunger and appetite control.

“The new research demonstrates that increased satiety is possible with smaller portions and less calories (150 calories) of instant oatmeal,” Greenway added in a paper published in the Nutrition Journal.

Source: zee news

Skipping meals can lead to weight gain, diabetes

Are you skipping your meals as part of a quick fix diet plan to lose weight? You are in for trouble. Because skipping meals does more bad than good to your body. Not only is your body deprived of essential nutrients but this also drastically affects the metabolism leading to weight gain and diabetes.

Most people tend to skip breakfast for instant weight loss. But in their desperate attempt they send their metabolism for a toss. Metabolism is the simple process of breaking your food into smaller, usable parts that helps you stay active through the day.  When you skip meals your metabolism has nothing to do. As a result your metabolism is unable to break down portions that you eat later in the day, and the food gets stored as fat leading to weight gain.

Skipping meals also drastically affects blood sugar levels. During metabolism some part of this food that you eat is stored as fat, while other parts enter the bloodstream as sugar, to provide you with energy throughout the day. Not eating at regular intervals can drastically lower your blood sugar levels making you susceptible to developing diabetes later in life.

So eat at the right times, eat healthy and exercise to stay fit.

Source: Zee news

Does changing breakfast habits really help you cut the flab?

It is a well documented fact that an association exists between breakfast and weight management, however a new study has found that previous researchers designed to find links between these two things often do not prove that one causes the other.

The research led by David Allison, Ph.D., associate dean for science in the University of Alabama School of Public Health, shows that the question of whether eating vs. skipping breakfast affects weight has not been answered by studies.

Andrew Brown, Ph.D., first author of the study, spearheaded the examination of 92 studies about the proposed effect of breakfast on obesity (PEBO). The PEBO-related research literature, the authors found, seemed to be influenced by factors that led to exaggerated beliefs and statements about the purported effects of breakfast consumption on obesity. These include research that lacks probative value and biased research reporting.

Allison and his team found that scientists collectively do not know as much about the relationship between skipping breakfast and obesity as previously thought, based on the current state of PEBO-related research.

Their meta-analysis indicated that there is certainty that breakfast-skipping and obesity are associated, but it cannot confirm whether there is a causal effect of skipping breakfast on obesity.

Brown said that although we know that breakfast-skippers are more likely to be overweight or obese, we do not know if making breakfast-skippers eat breakfast would decrease their weight, nor do we know if making breakfast-eaters stop eating breakfast would cause them to gain weight.

Meanwhile, Allison said that uncertainty should not be confused with evidence of no benefit or harm, though.

“It just means that right now we don’t know how changing breakfast-eating habits will influence obesity – eating versus skipping breakfast could help control weight, cause more weight gain or have no effect – and the effect may vary from person to person,” the researcher added.

The authors suggest that if causal claims are desired, different research on the topic is needed. They call for stronger study designs that include randomizing people to eat or skip breakfast to help determine causal effects of breakfast on obesity. UAB is leading such a trial in roughly 300 adults at five sites around the world; results from this study are expected in spring 2014.

The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.