Eating more dietary fiber could stimulate weight loss
In an attempt to lose weight, higher fiber intake could support the process of losing extra pounds, while also providing health benefits. This is the hypothesis that a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts tested in a study, wanting to show that a diet based on more fiber would be more beneficial than the diet recommended by the American Heart Association, which proposes certain dietary restrictions.
Fiber-based diets do not impose any restrictions, instead recommend the consumption of as many high-fiber foods. Thus, researchers believe that this diet is much more permissive, and can be much easier to follow, because the food consumed gives the feeling of satiety and are also pleasant.
The study involved 240 people considered to have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, who were divided into two groups: one followed a diet based on dietary fiber (more precisely, increasing fiber intake by 30 grams per day) , the other diet recommended by the American Heart Association, which included several recommendations:
limiting calories through higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains;
- consumption of at least 30 grams of fiber per day;
- consumption of lean proteins;
- reducing sugar and salt consumption;
- reduction or abstinence from alcohol;
- pursuing a balance between the consumption of fats, carbohydrates, proteins and cholesterol.
After 1 year, those who followed the American Heart Association diet lost an average of 2.7 kg, while participants who increased their fiber intake reduced their body weight by 1.8 kg. All participants showed a decrease in blood pressure and an improvement in insulin resistance during the study.
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