Effects of a high fiber bread diet on weight loss in college-age males

Abstract

Individuals embarking on a weight reducing program often experience fatigue, headaches, and feelings of hunger. The first symptoms accompany the ketotic state and can be overcome by increasing the carbohydrate intake. This can be achieved by ingesting bread. The addition of cellulose to the bread appears to provide added satiety and to diminish hunger reactions. While bread does not cause weight loss it does assist one who tries to lose weight and permits the dieter to exercise freedom in selecting foods. The feeling of fullness created by eating bread and intensified with bread containing cellulose helps a dieter control food intake. At the same time, only by restricting high calorie food intake can there be any substantial weight loss. A bread diet can readily be used by members of families as it requires no exotic or strange food inclusions and it assists the dieter in the transition from the weight loss program to a weight maintenance pattern once the desired weight has been achieved. Overweight college-age men who followed this program lost an average of 8.77 kg in 8 weeks while eating reduced calorie high fiber bread whereas those consuming ordinary enriched white bread lost 6.26 kg in the same period. All the subjects were fed a nutritious variety of foods in addition to either 12 slices of reduced calorie high fiber bread which provided 25.5 g crude fiber per day or 12 slices of enriched white bread which contained 1.02 g crude fiber per day. The precise role of bread consumed can only be surmised. Bread itself is not high in calories. It can be reasoned that it curbs hunger pangs enabling the dieter to resist foods that otherwise would cause excessive caloric intake.