Recent research provides food manufacturers with a new approach to tackling the battle of the bulge.
Efforts from food industry to date combating the obesity epidemic have mainly focused on reducing the energy content of foods, cutting fat or reducing portion size. However, the fact that obesity rates continue to remain a problem suggests that this is not enough.
New research, recently presented at health professional seminars in Australia, may provide the food industry with an effective new tool in the obesity fight. Studies have revealed that there is an opportunity to reduce how much people eat by enhancing the satiety effect of food - without adding calories.
“Our research has shown that choosing the right sort of foods may help us better control our appetites. What surprised us most, though, was the fact that it was the fibre you couldn’t see, resistant starch, which had the greatest effect,” said Professor Joanne Slavin, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota.
Professor Slavin delivered the keynote address at seminars held in Sydney and Melbourne focusing on her research into the satiety effects of resistant starch, a fibre ingredient attracting significant interest from the scientific community and recently incorporated into the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Nutrient Reference Values.
In the study conducted by Slavin at the University of Minnesota, participants who ate a breakfast muffin with added resistant starch found that they were less hungry and stayed fuller for longer compared with those who ate muffins containing other types of fibre. The muffins all contained around 9 g of fibre and had similar levels of calories and other nutrients.
Unlike other satiety enhancers such as protein, which can mean adding calories, adding resistant starch to a food adds little or no additional energy to the diet.
“As resistant starch is an invisible form of fibre, it is also an easy way to both boost the family’s fibre intake and prevent overeating - without them even knowing it,” she said.
“We’re constantly bombarded by delectable aromas, sizzling sounds and delicious-looking foods which encourage us to keep eating, ignoring our body’s signals telling us we’re full. Satiety is quite a complex beast,” said Professor Slavin. “Recognising appetite signals means people may be less likely to overeat or snack on the wrong foods. Now we can enhance those signals by choosing the right foods, such as those with resistant starch.
“People eat for any number of reasons. Many have overridden their body’s hunger signals so often that they have forgotten to listen. In fact, some children may have never learned to listen to their bodies at all,” she added.
Resistant starch is found naturally in firm bananas, legumes and cooked then cooled pasta, potatoes and rice. One of the richest natural sources of resistant starch is Hi-maize which is made from Australian grown corn ground so finely you can’t see or taste it when it is added to foods.
Hi-maize can be used to boost fibre levels in breads, breakfast cereals, snacks and bars, pasta, noodles, beverages, soups and ready meal components. In addition to health advantages, dose tolerance and processing benefits, Hi-maize delivers good texture and clean flavour.
For more information visit www.resistantstarch.com.