We all know it’s important to start each day off with breakfast, a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition states that eating a meal made with slow release carbohydrate such as oatmeal or bran cereal may help you burn more fat prior to exercise.
Researchers examined the rate of fat oxidation among eight women after eating the following breakfast meals, high fiber cereal with milk, peaches, yogurt and apple juice ; cornflakes with skim milk , white bread with margarine and jam and a energy drink on another day. The first meal was a low glycemic meal: the second a high gylcemic meal. Glycemic index measures how much a certain food raises blood sugar. Lower glycemic foods generally contain more protein, fat or fiber. They are also digested more slowly which explains the slower sugar spike and a lower release of insulin. A higher release of insulin signals the body to store more fat.
The researchers discovered that when a low glycemic meal was eaten the women burned twice as much fat during a 60 minute walk than when they ate the high glycemic meal. The reason, the low glycemic meal did not spike sugar and in turn did not raise insulin levels which explains why the fiber eating women oxidized fat more efficiently.
Take home message- very simple eat a high fiber meal prior to exercise to increase fat burning benefits.