- Dieters who followed a diet containing 40 grams of resistant starch lost 6 pounds in eight weeks
Beans on toast can do wonders for your waistline, a study suggests.
Dieters on a diet with 40 grams of resistant starch per day lost about 6 pounds in eight weeks.
Some fragmented even more, Chinese researchers found.
Resistant starch is abundant in oats, green bananas and beans – including the type canned by Heinz.
Dieters on a diet with 40 grams of resistant starch per day lost about 6 pounds in eight weeks
It is also found in wholegrain cereals, implying that beans on toast – when served with brown bread – can be an easy way to lose weight.
The study itself, conducted by academics at the Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, did not look at beans or toast.
Thirty-seven overweight volunteers were instead given three ready-made meals every day for a total of sixteen weeks.
Participants were also asked to consume a starch powder mixed in 300 ml of water twice daily.
In the first arm of the study, this contained 40 grams of resistant corn starch. While in the second branch, volunteers received a less favorable type.
Results published in the journal Nature metabolism revealed ‘no significant change’ in the weight of the standard starch group, unlike those with resistant starch who lost weight.
The researchers concluded: ‘We show that resistant starch can promote weight loss.
‘The benefits are related to changes in the composition of the gut microbiota.’
Unlike normal starch, which is easily digested in the small intestine, resistant starch survives this process.
Instead, it goes straight to the large intestine, where it ferments and provides fuel for the trillions of insects that live in it, essentially feeding the bacteria instead of the person.
It is this reaction that, according to the Chinese researchers, is behind the weight loss results.
Research has long shown that resistant starch can make people feel full, just like fiber.
The amount of resistant starch in foods varies depending on how it is manufactured, prepared and cooked – and also whether it is reheated.
Legumes are one of the “best sources” of resistant starch, according to a Harvard dietitian. Even when cooked, they still contain some of it.
Other sources of resistant starch include whole wheat bread, beetroot, hazelnuts and artichokes.
Award-winning nutritionist Rob Hobson, author of Unprocess Your Life, said beans could theoretically help people lose weight.
However, spreading your toast with butter would ‘nullify any effects’.
He told MailOnline: ‘Of course this won’t happen if you eat one portion.
“But if you ate it every day, it could have an impact, depending on what the rest of your diet looked like.”
Mr Hobson added: ‘You can include resistant starch in your diet by eating foods such as beans, lentils, starchy vegetables and seeds.’
The Chinese researchers who published the recent study acknowledged that one limitation was the small number of participants, which could limit the impact of the results on the general population.