It's not an easy task for most people struggling to lose weight to just let go of their beloved carbs. And while most diets won't strictly recommend going absolutely off carbs, certain ones do. For everybody having a hard time sticking to such diets, TV doctor Dr Michael Mosley has a solution.
He recently revealed the best time of day to consume carbohydrates — the category of food we seem to have a love-hate relationship with — and as it turns out, eating pasta and bread at dinner is actually better for one's waistline than having any amount of toast in the morning.
Also read: Counts carbs, not calories
Earlier, experts had found that it was better to eat carbohydrates mainly at the start of the day, considering the body gets a longer time to burn the glucose these items release. And if the body doesn't burn it off, excess sugar is stored from the carbs in the form of fat, leading to weight gain.
However, the new study, which was broadcast on BBC's show "Trust Me I'm a Doctor", revealed that eating carbs in the evening leads to less dramatic blood sugar spikes than loading up on carbs in the morning. This is provided that the rest of the day's food intake isn't too heavy on starch.
According to Mosley, people should be consistent with their carb-eating habit and avoid consuming high quantities in every meal.
Mosley and researchers from the University of Surrey conducted the study, where they asked healthy volunteers to eat the majority of their carb-loaded food items either in the morning, or the evening.
Every participant ate the same amount of carb every day, which included bread, pasta and vegetables. The participants' blood sugar levels were also analysed by researchers throughout the course of the study.
The results revealed that a low-carb breakfast and a high-carb dinner came up with the best effects on the participants by raising their glucose response by an average of 10.4 units, as was reported by BBC.
On the other hand, eating lots of carbs in the morning and few in the evening increased their glucose response by 15.9 units.
While the scientists from the University of Surrey have stated their plan to repeat the experiment in a larger study, Mosely revealed stress is one of the major factors that lead to weight gain.
He believes there is now "compelling scientific evidence" that stress wreaks absolute havoc on our system and predisposes our bodies into gaining weight. Speaking in The Mail on Sunday's new "Life" section, he suggested that dieters relax and not constantly worry and fret about gaining weight.
Mosley explained: "Research has shown that chronic stress leads to increased hunger, comfort eating, self-loathing and disrupted sleep. To lose weight and keep it off, it is important to reduce stress – and all the comfort eating that goes with it."
This is one of the leading suggestions that the 5:2 diet plan advises when it comes to losing weight.
