Why eating cereal, a sandwich and pasta each day is making you hungrier than a DIET

YOU wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that going a diet would make you peckish. But it’s actually a Brit’s typical diet – heaps of cereal for breakfast, a sarnie for lunch and a huge bowl of pasta for dinner – that’s likely causing your constant hunger pangs. That’s according to an expert who says this […]

YOU wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that going a diet would make you peckish.

But it’s actually a Brit’s typical diet – heaps of cereal for breakfast, a sarnie for lunch and a huge bowl of pasta for dinner – that’s likely causing your constant hunger pangs.

Getty

Brits love a sandwhich for lunch[/caption]

That’s according to an expert who says this kind of eating puts you in a constant cycle of grabbing snacks throughout the day.

It’s all to do with blood sugar levels, the highs and lows of which cause us to reach for more food.

Dr Mayur Ranchordas, a Sheffield Hallam University sports nutrition academic, explained to The Sun: “Whenever you eat any type of carb, such as rice, pasta or bread, it gets broken down into glucose.

“Insulin goes up to control the blood glucose levels. Its role is to transport the glucose to things like muscle tissue.

“Once the cells are full of glycogen, the rest of it gets transferred into fat, which [over time] becomes adipose tissue.”

As the glucose moves into your cells to give you energy, glucose levels in the bloodstream go down. 

“Then hunger kicks in,” says Dr Ranchordas, explaining that insulin and weight go hand in hand.

“Say if you ate cereal with milk for breakfast, glucose goes up and insulin is released for a period of time. Then blood sugar drops again and mid-morning you might reach for a cereal bar. Your blood sugar levels shoot up once again.

“You might have a sandwich and crisps for lunch and the same happens again, and you’re looking for a chocolate bar not long after.

“Then in the evening you have something like pasta or rice and the cycle repeats.”

Sound familiar? 

“This diet will make you hungry all the time because blood glucose levels are up and down all the time,” Dr Mayur said. 

Surveys have found Britain’s favourite lunch is a cheese sandwich, while dinners made on rotation are spag bol, pizza, pasta with sauce, roast dinner and fish and chips.

While carbs are a vital part of the diet, if it overthrows other food groups, it may be impacting your weight.

The solution

Dr Mayur explained that, in order to keep hunger and cravings at bay, you need to keep blood sugar levels managed.

“If most people followed the advice given to diabetics, they’d lose weight,” he said.

“There is a direct correlation between the amount of carbs you eat and the amount of insulin you produce.

“So if you were to reduce the amount of carbs you eat, your body would have an inverse relationship – insulin is not produced as much.

“If you substitute cereal with Greek yoghurt, berries and nuts, there is a much lower carb content. You get 50 per cent less insulin production.

“A tuna salad with avocado and olive oil for lung will barely raise it, then at night time you might have steak or fish with lots of veg and quinoa.

“If you get hungry during the day, some fruit or nuts won’t raise blood sugar levels too much.”

Dr Mayur said you could eat the same number of calories on either day described, but that the latter would help you to lose weight while keeping your hunger levels at bay.

That’s because it has a balance of the three main food groups – carbs, fats and protein.

Fats and protein help to slow the rate at which blood sugar levels rise.

“If you ate more protein and healthy fats – both of which have high stateity that keep you fuller for longer – they don’t affect your blood sugar levels,” Dr Mayur said.

Carbs are not the enemy and do not need to be cut out in order to shift some weight.

You can still eat them in portions and focus on slow releasing carbs, which include oats, wholewheat pasta and brown rice.

Dr Mayur said: “You don’t need to stop eating carbs. But instead of having Cheerios, have a small bowl of bran with yogurt and fruit – that’s 15g of carbs rather than 50g.

“Try having two slices of wholemeal bread rather than a sandwich of white bread or wraps.”