The F2 Diet Book by Audrey Eyton, well known in the dieting sector, is intended to help people maintain stable weight. Following are some highlights from the book, promoting a higher intake of fibre-rich food.
With the F2 diet you can discard unnecessary fat at a faster rate than you would with diets that allow the same number of calories; you reduce weight without feeling hungry; you mobilise your body’s “good bacteria” to feel better and protect yourself against cancer; you quicken the bowel discharge process so that the bowels quickly rid themselves of the waste which the body does not need; you reduce cholesterol, and therefore protect the heart; you reduce the rate at which sugar is absorbed by the blood so that you do not feel hungry so quickly and health risks are reduced; and you give your brain and the rest of your body the nutrition they need for optimum function.
A diet rich in fibre, made up mainly of fruit, vegetables and grains, offers the most effective formula for weight loss. The most important factor in any diet aimed at reducing weight is the number of calories that can be consumed. The source of these calories determines the amount you can ingest and to a certain extent, the percentage your body will use. What follows are some of the reasons why those who follow a fibre-rich diet rarely put on weight, and why you can rid yourself of unnecessary weight if you start eating fibre-rich food.
The first reason is that on this diet you will eat more food but fewer calories. The food that can be eaten most in quantity, with the fewest calories, is all derived from plants. You can say that almost all vegetables and fruit have no fat and contain a lot of water, which has no calories. Even bread and cereals have a moderate, rather than high, amount of calories.
The second reason is that following this diet you will use up more calories. With a fibre-rich diet you will discard fat at a faster rate than you would with other diets which allow the same number of calories. This is a proven scientific fact. Not all the calories we consume are used for energy or stored as fat. Every diet has natural wastage of about five per cent. With a fibre-rich diet the amount of wastage is considerably higher, often more than twice, as scientific studies have shown.
When you add fibre to your diet, your body will discharge about 100 undigested calories every day. This will help you lose weight. In reasonable amounts, the more fibre you ingest, the more calories you will discard with the bowel discharges.
The main component of fibre does not have calories, and we know today that about 10 per cent of the starch in carbohydrates remains undigested. Fibre encourages the “good bacteria” to grow, and this too increases the number of calories that are discharged by the bowel. All this means that fibre-rich diets will help you lose weight more than would protein-rich diets.
The third reason why those following a fibre-rich diet rarely put on weight is that when you eat you will feel more satisfied. It is strange, but true, that when you take longer to chew your food, fewer calories are consumed. Studies have shown that this affects not only the mental and physical system of appetite control but also, surprisingly, the length of time before you start feeling hungry again.
The English saying goes “a second on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”. This saying applies to fatty foods such as ice cream, cream desserts, chocolate, crisps, spreadable cheese, mayonnaise and butter- and cheese-based sauces. Hundreds of calories will have been consumed through such foods before they start to register on the mechanism that controls the appetite.
In its report on worldwide obesity, the World Health Organisation warns against extra and passive consumption through diets that contain too much fat, which circumvent the mental and physical signs of having consumed enough food. The WHO says that “the signs of control” of the appetite given by fats are thought to be too weak, or delayed, to prevent the rapid consumption of energy (calories) from a fatty meal.
About five minutes have to elapse for the food put into the mouth to start satisfying the body, and about 20 minutes have to elapse before the food fills the stomach and send the physical signal of satiation. Studies have shown that those who are overweight eat their food more rapidly than those who are slim. If you eat quickly and follow a fatty diet you will definitely put on weight.
Refined carbohydrates such as sugar, white bread and other food from which fibre has been removed, can also be considered as fast food. But when the carbohydrates contain fibre, they need to be chewed longer, which takes more time for them to be consumed. If you think about how much longer you will take to eat four apples, when compared to the time you need to drink their juice (which means the apples without their fibre) you will have an example of one of the benefits of a diet rich in fibre.
The fourth reason is that following a fibre-rich diet will make you feel satiated. Fibre is sponge-like matter which absorbs and retains water, and is chewed and passed gastro-intestinally. It means that fibre-rich foods expand more than other food and are therefore more effective in filling the stomach. And apart from this, the stomach remains full for longer.
Another reason is that the sugar levels in the blood remain stable. Once digested, all carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood as sugar which provides the fuel essential to the brain and the body.
Some carbohydrates, especially those which are highly processed and which have no fibre, have a tendency of being absorbed too quickly, as a result of which the sugar levels in the blood rise very fast. Others, especially those which are natural and which you will eat if you follow the F2 diet, will be absorbed at a slower rate, which is healthy and helps control weight.
Customers interested in getting a free copy of Audrey Eyton’s F2 Diet Book on how to make a fibre-rich diet part of the everyday lifestyle may take any two 500g (or over) Kellogg’s All-Bran, Kellogg’s Bran flakes, Kellogg’s Sultana Bran or Kellogg’s Fruit ‘n Fibre cereal packs to the customer care or cash point of supermarkets and local stores in exchange for the book. Offer starts Wednesday 14th November 2007 and is valid until stocks last.