Health Education: overweight

No not as a miracle cure for weight loss... surely by now you know that I don't endorse such nonsense. I mean the power of oatmeal (oat bran for me) to satiate.  To leave you with a feeling of fullness which lasts for hours.   I knew that my oat bran with almond milk breakfast was very filling, but now there is research to support this personal experience and to explain why it occurs. The researchers in this study collected information on how the participants were feeling, e.g., if they 'felt full,' 'were hungry' and what was happening to the oatmeal and the comparison food - ready to eat cold cereal - in the body, i.e., how it was being digested.  The participants reported their feelings at several different time points up to four hours after they ate their assigned breakfast. It is important to note that the participants each ate both meals, but in random order and about a week apart.  The meals were 1) Quaker oatmeal and 2) Honey Nut Cheerios.  The meals were served with the same amounts of skim milk and had the same amount of total calories.  I do not eat Quaker Oatmeal - but I think they used the kind that you cook with hot water.   I use oat bran which I cook with water and eat with low cal almond milk (+aspartame).  I can say with certainty that if I had equal calories of cheerios and oat bran the cheerios would be half the volume of my oat bran.   And I believe that what you see has an effect on your feelings of satisfaction and fullness. Anyway,  the study was well done.  The lead author/researcher is Candida Rebello - a nutritionist.  You can read the summary abstract <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24024772">here.</a> Putting the reports from the participants together with the lab results, the researchers could assert that the oatmeal breaks down more slowly, is thicker going through the small intestine, among other things and is more satiating than the cereal.  There are a lot of details in the article that I am not taking the time to explain, and some I could not explain even if I had the time.  But I think I have shared enough to give you the evidenced based take home message.  Choose oatmeal over cold cereal. As for myself, I never eat cold cereal as a breakfast.  I believe that it offers too many calories per ounce (it is energy dense) and as this research suggests, doesn't stay with you very long.  I do sometimes have a taste of it as part of my discretionary (treat) calories.

The Power of Oatmeal

No not as a miracle cure for weight loss... surely by now you know that I don't endorse such nonsense. I mean the power of oatmeal (oat ...

It isn't often that I refer you to an article in full that has been written by someone else, or in this case, a couple of someones.  You can trust that I am doing it for a good reason.  The article published in the NY Times addresses a point often made here.  Headlines and research should be interpreted carefully.      I believe that these two journalists get it exactly right (one hails from Union College - yay).  I only have one or two things to add, but I really think you should read the article first... click <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/does-this-ad-make-me-fat.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0" target="_blank">HERE</a>.   Okay - I feel like you didn't listen to me.  The article is about junk food advertising and soda sizes causing obesity.   Read it <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/does-this-ad-make-me-fat.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0" target="_blank">HERE.</a> OK. The only big problem I had was with the journalists' assertion that we do not know what causes obesity.  Of course we do.  A lot of people eating more calories than they need (and the number they need is personal).  There are reasons that people eat more calories than they need and some of those reasons are ones that I want to study.  I want to use the exact type of research design that the journalists advocate.  But, I do not think randomization into conditions will always (or ever) be possible.  Lagged interventions, or lagged policies may allow me to make good inferences. By this I mean, if one state adopts a public health policy before a similar state does, I can compare the two states on the outcome (calories purchased, BMI, etc). Most of the time,  my work will speak to associations, relationships, correlations and that is ok. I hope I  can get to cause, but I won't pretend that I did when I did not.      I would reword some of the journalists language about the studies they referenced.  It is true that advertisements do not cause weight gain - but they may entice people.  Ads may lead people to establishments where they over consume. Once inside the restaurant, is there any hope?  Maybe.  It is possible that putting the number of calories per item on a menu might encourage people to chose an item with fewer calories.  Having to put calorie numbers on a menu might encourage the restaurant owner to offer more low calorie items.      Having less billboards, less fast food places, higher prices on nutrient poor foods, removing sodas from WIC and SNAP benefits...Polices like these might reduce consumption of foods that are very high in calories... but at the end of the day.. it will always be about a choice that a person makes.  If that choice includes too many calories.. weight gain is likely to follow.    (ps if you think that the government wants to manipulate you and the food industry doesn't, you are woefully naive)

Obesity Studies... What is a Cause?

It is n't often that I refer you to an article in full that has been written by someone else, or in this case, a couple of someones....

Health Education

The Power of Oatmeal

Obesity Studies... What is a Cause?

Overweight and Military Service

Popular Posts

Blog Archive