When it comes to losing weight, choosing what to eat for breakfast can be one of the hardest choices to make. With it being the first meal of the day, slimmers won’t want to get it wrong. However, there are some common foods that when eaten at breakfast can actually lead to weight loss. Bananas have been found to help speed up weight loss results and burn belly fat, but how? High in fibre, bananas are a great alternative to sugary breakfast cereals. They help to satisfy the sweet cravings first thing in the morning, while adding lots of essential nutrients.
While bananas do contain more calories than say most citrus fruits, like grapefruit, they do have a lot of other nutrients.
One medium banana has just over 100 calories, yet contains three grams of dietary fibre, this works out to about 12 per cent of one’s daily fibre needs.
Soluble fibre, which is found in fruit, vegetables, oats and pulses, helps to slow down the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body and can help to lower cholesterol.
Multiple studies have found that upping fibre intake particularly from fruits and vegetables can lead to weight loss.
One study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health measured the food intake of 252 women for 20 months.
It found that for every extra gram of fibre the women ate per day, their body weight was around 0.55 lbs (0.25 kg) lower.
According to healthline.com soluble fibre can reduce belly fat, with one study linking a 10g increase in daily soluble fibre intake to a 3.7 per cent lower risk of gaining belly fat.
This is because fibre makes people feel full for longer, which may help you eat fewer calories over the long term and lead to weight loss.
How should they be eaten?
Slimmers should be mindful of the calorie content of bananas. However, they could benefit from adding one to their breakfast meal.
Try chopping a medium banana up and adding it to oatmeal, or on top of toast.
Others may choose to add it to their morning smoothie. A great way to balance this is by adding leafy green vegetables like spinach or kale.
Leading nutritionist Lily Soutter recently spoke to Express.co.uk about the importance of eating enough fibre.
In order to make the right choices when it comes to carbohydrates, Lily advises dieters to choose whole grains.
“When opting for starchy carbohydrates, choose whole grains which have their fibrous outer bran layer left intact. Most of the goodness is found in this bran layer which means that whole grains can contain 75 per cent more nutrients that their refined counterparts,” she said.
Some of the healthiest whole grains include: whole oats, brown rice, whole rye, buckwheat, quinoa and bulgur.