Bringing bread to the table that increases satiety and helps with weight loss. That’s the idea that guided researchers at King’s College London and the Quadram Institute, a food and health research center in Norwich. The experts made the bread using chickpea cell flour instead of regular wheat flour and claim that this measure, along with other targeted actions, could curb overeating and reduce obesity.
However, experts warn that a simple flour exchange alone will not be enough, because keeping active and following a healthy diet in general is necessary for better long-term health. The study is the first of its kind to examine new bread produced by PuseON Foods, a company founded by the Quadram Institute.
Flours made from chickpeas, lentils and beans involve traditional milling that breaks down the fibrous structures critical to the legumes’ health benefits. But the chickpea flour used in the study was made through a new milling method that preserves the legumes’ fibrous structure.
Scientists say this provides a new way to enrich flour-based foods with additional nutritional benefits. In the study, experts wanted to find out whether the switch made people feel more satisfied and had any effect on levels of hormones, insulin and blood sugar that regulate fullness.
For the purpose of the research, scientists made three different types of sandwiches. One was made using regular white wheat flour, while the other batches replaced 30 or 60 percent of this flour with PulseON Foods chickpea flour. Twenty healthy people between the ages of 18 and 45 were recruited.
They each consumed sandwiches, which were served with strawberry jam with no added sugar and a glass of water, on three different days after a 12-hour fast. One blood sample was taken before eating the sandwich, followed by eight more in the four hours after the meal. Participants were asked about their hunger levels before and after eating the bread. No comment on its taste was included in the research.
