Tag Archives: satiety

Seaweed may aid weight loss

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Dietary fibres from brown algae boost the sensation of satisfaction, thereby making people eat less and lose more weight, a new study has claimed.

According to researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, dietary fibres from brown algae, the so-called alginates, are excellent at creating an ‘artificial feeling of fullness” in the stomach.

“Over a three-year period, we have studied the effect of taking different alginate doses. We are able to demonstrate that the healthy subjects who took alginates and were also allowed to eat as much as they wanted felt less hungry and ate less than the subjects not drinking fibre drinks with alginates,” Morten Georg Jensen, a PhD student, said.

The 12-week study conducted by the researchers included 96 overweight men and women. 48 subjects drank a specially designed drink with alginates three times daily before each main course as a supplement to an energy-reduced diet. The other 48 subjects drank a placebo drink without alginates.

seaweed

Seaweed

The 80 subjects who completed the study achieved a far larger weight loss with alginate treatment than those drinking a similar drink without alginates.


On an average, the subjects in the seaweed fibre drink group lost 1.7 kg more than those in the placebo group. According to the researchers, this weight loss is primarily due to a decrease in body fat percentage.

“A probable explanation of the weight loss is that the alginates form a gel in the stomach which strengthens the gastrointestinal satiety signals to the brain because the gel takes up space in the stomach. The overweight subjects thus ate less than usual,’ Jensen added.

A good breakfast wards off obesity

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If you want to stay healthy, regularly eat breakfasts full of proteins. Eating a protein-rich breakfast keeps you satisfied and wards off overeating, which has become the bane of a modern, stress-filled life.

Researchers at the Missouri University relying on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) also found that such a breakfast reduces the brain signals controlling food motivation and reward-driven eating behaviour.

Eating healthy, protein-rich breakfasts, such as waffles made with protein powder, can be a simple strategy for improving appetite control and preventing overeating, the journal Obesity reports.

“Everyone knows that eating breakfast is important, but many people still don’t make it a priority,” said Heather Leidy, assistant professor in nutrition and exercise physiology at Missouri.

Traditional cooked breakfast

Traditional cooked breakfast

Researchers measured appetite sensations and hormonal markers along with reward-driven motivation to eat, using fMRI technology to identify brain activity bearing on food motivation and reward, according to a Missouri statement.

They decided to target ‘breakfast-skipping’ teens for two reasons, Leidy said. First, breakfast-skipping has been strongly associated with unhealthy snacking, overeating (at night), weight gain and obesity. Second, 60 percent of adolescents skip breakfast on a daily basis.


For three weeks, the teens either continued to skip breakfast or consumed 500-calorie breakfasts containing cereal and milk (with normal quantities of protein) or higher protein meals prepared as Belgium waffles, syrup and yogurt.

At the end of each week, they completed appetite and satiety questionnaires. Right before lunch, the volunteers completed a brain scan, using fMRI, to identify brain activation responses.

Compared to breakfast-skipping, both breakfast meals led to increased fullness and reductions in hunger throughout morning. Additionally, the higher protein breakfast led to even greater changes in appetite, satiety and reward-driven eating behaviour compared to the normal protein breakfast.