Eating prunes can improve the chances of shedding some extra kilos, a new research by the University of Liverpool shows.
Researchers say that eating dried fruits is often not recommended while on a weight loss program. But a study by the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society conducted tests on 100 overweight and obese low fiber consumers to find out the effect of eating prunes on weight loss.
Moreover, the researchers studied whether people who ate a diet low in fiber could tolerate prunes in their diet, and if eating prunes had a beneficial effect. For the study, the researchers divided the participants in to two groups - those who ate prunes every day (140g a day for women and 171g a day for men) and those who were given advice on healthy snacks over the period of active weight loss.
The study findings revealed that participants who ate prunes as a part of weight management diet lost 2 kg of weight and shed 2.5cm off their waists compared to the 1.5 kg of weight loss in the participants in the other group. Their waistline reduced by just 1.7 cm.
Furthermore, the researchers found that those who ate prunes had significant amount of weight loss during the last four weeks of the study. After eight weeks, participants showed increased feelings of fullness in the prune group. Moreover, despite the high daily doses, prunes were well tolerated.
"These are the first data to demonstrate both weight loss and no negative side effects when consuming prunes as part of a weight management diet. Indeed in the long term they may be beneficial to dieters by tackling hunger and satisfying appetite; a major challenge when you are trying to maintain weight loss," lead study author and Liverpool psychologist, Dr Jo Harrold, said in a press release.
"Maintaining a healthy diet is challenging. Along with fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit can provide a useful and convenient addition to the diet, especially as controlling appetite during dieting can be tough," said Professor Jason Halford, Professor of Experimental Psychology and Director of the University's Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory.
