Sunday 4 April 2010

Now what shall we have for breakfast?

High-fibre carb-rich breakfasts make you feel fuller for longer, reducing your urge to snack, and keep you more alert during the morning.

There has been a lot of research done on breakfast. We are encouraged to eat it so that we are alert in the morning. The University of Sydney recommends a high-fibre carb-rich breakfast - which really means porage or muesli, rather than more processed cereals. They find that it has great benefits when you are trying to control your eating.

The study involved eating a breakfast of around 490 calories. The high-fibre, carb-rich breakfast was the least delicious but was the most filling. Their results showed that after this breakfast, people ate less during the morning and at lunch. Hunger returned at a slower rate than after the low-fibre, carbohydrate-rich meal (the more processed kind of cereal). On the other hand, people who ate fat-rich breakfasts (bacon, black pudding, sausage, fried egg) felt less satisfied and found they ate more later on in the morning


By the end of the day, the average total calories eaten were significantly greater after the fat-rich breakfast than after the high-fibre, carbohydrate-rich meal. There are 2 pointers here then: We should avoid fried breakfasts (eating them only as an occasional treat) because they tend to make you eat more overall, even after the breakfast. And that porage and muesli are more filling and satisfying, with those nice feelings lasting longer through the morning.

What else did they discover? They tested for alertness. On average, the high-fibre carb-rich meal was associated with the highest post-breakfast alertness ratings and with the greatest cumulative amount of alertness during the period between breakfast and lunch. Interestingly, alertness and a sense of fullness seemed to go together.

If you are in or near Glasgow and want to lose weight, try to make a few small changes every week. To help you, try hypnotherapy with me.

www.carolinebrowntherapy.com

1 comment:

Harriet said...

that's very interesting. i've been eating oats for breakfast recently and havent felt hungry for hours afterwards. Thanks for this.