Researchers Discover Whole Grain Rye Can Help You Lose Weight |

Obesity and excess weight are among the largest health challenges across the globe. This results in many studies and research projects trying to develop methods of losing weight and keeping people healthy. One idea is to find and promote foods that contribute to an increased feeling of fullness and have positive effects on people’s metabolism. When people feel more full, they snack less, making the amount of food and calories they consume decrease.

Best Grains for Weight Loss

Researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology recently published a study in the scientific journal Clinical Nutrition, displaying that people who ate high-fiber products made from whole grain rye lost more fat and overall weight than those who ate products made from refined wheat. This result is due in part to whole grain containing more nutrients and making the eater feel more full after they consume it, so they eat less and consequently lose weight. This is the biggest recorded study of its kind and is designed to evaluate the effects particular grains have on body weight and fat.

Rye vs. Wheat

Rye is a hundreds-of-years-old grain that was found in wheat crops and was originally thought to be a weed but then was discovered to be an extremely useful bread making grain. Rye holds more water; thus, it can be denser than wheat bread but is a resilient plant that can grow in harsher climates. It also has more carbohydrates and vitamins than wheat bread and has undergone less selective breeding and tampering, making the grain more authentic and closer to its original form.

In contrast, wheat is a grain that is more than 10,000 years old and has been feeding people for hundreds of generations. The grain has more proteins and fats than rye, but wheat has had quite a growing process, so to speak. It has been subject to selective breeding and different processing methods and has been tampered with to produce specific results with no regard for the grain’s actual nutritional value.

Whole grain vs Refined

Using the entire kernel of grain when making bread has been determined to be healthier for you than refined bread which isn’t made with the entire kernel. The definition of whole grain means that 100% of the kernel and all its nutrients are incorporated into the product, so the germ, the bran, and the endosperm must all be present. This is why whole grain bread is better for you, because it contains many more vitamins and antioxidants than refined bread. All these nutrients, extra fiber, and vitamins are part of the reason whole grain bread fills you up faster than refined. The Swedish study wanted to know if whole grain makes people feel more full; would they then eat less, thus causing them to lose weight?

Results

“The results were clear – the participants who received rye products lost more weight overall, and their levels of body fat decreased compared to those who received wheat products,” says Kia Nøhr Iversen, researcher at the Division of Food and Nutrition Science at Chalmers University of Technology. So, if you are looking for easy dietary switches to keep your body fat down and lose some weight, whole grain rye is the way to go.

For a food to be marketed with particular health claims, a series of in-depth, meticulous studies must be conducted to prove how the advertised food affects the body. This research is expensive, and the roadblocks involved in obtaining the scientific evidence necessary to market products to the public are extensive and time-consuming. This makes it less enticing for food producers to develop and then market those products that could lead to reducing obesity and excess body fat.

A particularly encouraging aspect of the study is that the rye products used in the study are easily attainable in regular grocery stores. Consumers can act accordingly with the new results immediately. “It does not require particular effort or dedication to have a diet rich in whole grain rye,” says Kia Nøhr Iversen. But the results of the study establish a relationship between rye intake and fat reduction weight loss, and studies to determine exactly why this connection exists are already taking place.

Tailor your diet specifically to your body

Researcher Rikard Landberg, Professor of Food and Health at Chalmers University, states “Although we saw an overall difference in weight loss between the rye and the wheat group, there was also very large variation within those groups. Increasing our understanding of why different people respond differently to the same foods can pave the way for more specifically tailored diets based on individual needs. We are currently investigating whether certain specific bacteria in the intestine might be the explanation behind why some people lost more weight than others who were also on the rye diet.” So be on the lookout for the results of that study to gain a more intimate look at your body’s good bacteria and what you could be eating to best fit your body’s needs. Researcher Kia Nøhr Iversen says “as we continue to look for the exact reasons why, our advice is to choose the rye bread instead of the sifted wheat bread.”