New Study Reveals a High-Fiber Breakfast Keeps Hunger and Calories in Check

Sunday, May 10, 2009

A new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that, compared to those who ate a low-fiber breakfast cereal, people who ate a lower calorie high-fiber breakfast cereal reduced hunger and consumed fewer calories from breakfast and lunch, combined. The study, conducted by the University of Toronto, compared the effects of a high-insoluble-?ber cereal with a low-?ber cereal on short-term food intake, appetite, and blood glucose in healthy individuals.

“Increased intake of insoluble fiber has recently gained significant attention for maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk for chronic disease, such as diabetes, but few studies have examined its role in appetite control,” says G. Harvey Anderson PhD, Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Physiology, University of Toronto. “This study showed that for 100 calories less, the high-fiber cereal breakfast reduced hunger to a similar extent as the higher calorie, low-fiber cereal. The calorie savings was sustained since participants ate a similar amount of pizza during lunch. Thus, it appears that starting the day with a lower-calorie, high fiber breakfast cereal, can help people cut calories without feeling hungrier. As an added benefit, the consumption of the high fiber cereal was associated with a better blood glucose response than the low fiber cereal.”

The study compared the effects of General Mills’ Fiber One® cereal, served with 1 percent milk and a glass of water, with the effects of a low-fiber cereal, also served with 1 percent milk and water. Three hours after breakfast, both high-fiber and low-fiber participants were given water and unlimited pizza and instructed to eat until comfortably full. Participants who ate the high-fiber breakfast consumed fewer calories over the breakfast-lunch period and rated themselves more satisfied.

“It’s more apparent than ever the critical role dietary fiber plays in maintaining healthy weight and reducing the risk for certain diseases,” says Joe Driscoll, Fiber One marketing manager. “With 14 grams of fiber per serving, Fiber One cereal is an easy and delicious way to make the recommended amount of fiber a part of your diet every day.”

Additionally, research* shows that most Americans eat only half the fiber needed for optimum health: approximately 14 grams per 1000 calories. Experts** recommend that at least half of grain intake come from whole-grain foods.

Fiber One cereal offers an easy way to get more than half of your daily recommended fiber in one meal, and, like all General Mills cereals, is made from whole grain. Fiber One has 0 grams of sugar and can be enjoyed far beyond breakfast.

* Research from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data ** Recommendations for whole grain come from the Dietary Guidelines for /Americans

One of the world’s leading food companies, General Mills operates in over 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., General Mills had fiscal 2008 global net sales of US$14.9 billion, including the company’s $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales.

Source: General Mills
New Technique May Help Detect Potential Breast Cancer Spread WEBWIRE – Friday, May 08, 2009
A new phase III clinical trial of early stage breast cancer patients has shown that a molecule designed to home in on nearby lymph nodes is just as accurate as current techniques, but faster, more specific and easier to use.

“These results will really enable molecular biology to enter the operating room for lymph node detection,” said breast surgeon Anne Wallace, MD, professor of clinical surgery at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, and one of the study leaders. Wallace described her team’s results May 7, 2009 at the 3rd International Symposium on Cancer Metastasis and the Lymphovascular System in San Francisco.

When a woman has breast cancer, doctors want to be sure that the disease has not spread to her lymph nodes, the first place a cancer may go. The lymphatic system is a network of vessels, ducts and glands that usually carry disease-fighting cells throughout the body, but also can act as a conduit for cancer cells to access the bloodstream.

According to Wallace, the presence or absence of cancer in lymph nodes is an important predictor of breast cancer prognosis, and as a result, the appropriate treatment. But finding the right lymph nodes to test and a standardized method of doing so hasn’t been easy.

Wallace and David Vera, PhD, professor of radiology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, were instrumental in the early development and testing of the molecule, called Lymphoseek®, a radiopharmaceutical that binds to the receptor on lymph node white blood cells called macrophages. The radioactive portion of the molecule essentially lights up, enabling detection of such nearby “sentinel nodes” that are the most likely candidates to biopsy for possible cancer.

The trial, led by research teams at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, FL and other centers, along with the Dublin, OH-based Neoprobe Corporation, which developed Lymphoseek, compared the molecule’s ability to detect nearby sentinel lymph nodes to that of the standard method using blue dye and a radioactive tracer substance.

In the trial, the Moores Cancer Center team, which also examined the technique separately in melanoma patients, looked at 46 early stage breast cancer patients. Each patient received Lymphoseek, and a short time later, blue dye – which can also be detected and imaged as it enters the lymph nodes.

The surgeons removed the detected lymph nodes, which were subsequently sent to pathologists to determine whether cancer was present. The researchers found that more than 98 percent of sentinel lymph nodes containing blue dye also had Lymphoseek. Twenty-eight percent of the lymph nodes were positive for cancer, 100 percent of which were detected by Lymphoseek.

“The advantage in Lymphoseek is that we now have an agent that is tested and designed specifically for detection of sentinel lymph nodes,” Wallace said, noting that blue dye is not specific for this use, lasts a shorter time in the body and may not always go to only sentinel nodes. “Lymphoseek is easier to use, takes less time to find lymph nodes and is cleared faster from the body. This could standardize the process of lymph node mapping and make the process easier, particularly for less experienced surgeons.”

According to Wallace, these results could lead to other research on receptor binding imaging for different types of cancers, and propel the field of imaging cancer based on molecular profiling.

Wallace received early funding support from Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health.

Karl Limmer, MD, UC San Diego, is study co-author.

The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is one of the nation’s 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, combining research, clinical care and community outreach to advance the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer.

Source: UCSD