Which meals are good for the body? Meals that are rich in nutrients and fibre, say Unilever scientists in the report of a cinical study. Such meals, they said, could also help combat obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The scientists presented their preliminary findings at the 20th European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool. The study compared two meals using readily available ingredients, a healthy modern meal and a Palaeolithic age-inspired meal, which is so called because its composition mirrors a range of foods that people have easy access to in the olden days.
The scientists compared a healthy modern meal comprising fish, rice, one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables with a Palaeolithic-inspired meal comprising fish, no rice, a broad variety of different fruits and vegetables, nuts and mushrooms. All the meals contained the same amount of protein, fat, carbohydrates and calories.
The Paleolithic-inspired meals are majorly Phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are bioactive plant-derived compounds often associated with a range of positive health effects. Some phytonutrients are orange colour- squach, mango, carrots; red/purple colour- grapes, cherries, strawberries; orange/yellow colour- orange, pineapples; green/yellow colour- avocado, spinach, green beans; red colour- tomatoes, watermelon; green colour- brocolli, cabbage, dark green vegetables; brown colour- nuts; white colour- coconut, maize.
Also incorporated in them, and a broader range of plant- based foods like nuts and spices such as cinnamon in addition to fresh fruit and vegetables.
The metabolism of these are used for the experiment, and was monitored three hours after eating and those that consumed the modified meal felt much fuller.
The results also showed that they had significantly higher levels of PYY, a hormone that tells the brain that a person has had enough to eat.
Explanatory reasons for the results include that the Palaeolithic-inspired meal had a low energy density resulting in a physically bigger meal for the same amount of calories than the modern meal. This could account for the increased satiety levels. The meal was also designed using plant-based ingredients chosen to be both high in fibre and rich in phytonutrients.
Prof Mark Berry, Senior Scientist at Unilever who led the research said: “Initial findings from our study suggest we might do well to get back to basics and eat a diet for which our bodies have evolved. With its mix of lean meat, fresh fish and a very broad variety of plant-based foods, our ancient ancestors’ diet was different from what most of us consume today. Furthermore, the human genome has not had time to respond to radical recent changes in our diet and therefore human physiology is at odds with the vast majority of modern diets.
“The great thing is we didn’t have to invent a time machine to do this study – all the ingredients needed for the Palaeolithic-meal could be readily purchased.”
Prof Gary Frost from Imperial College London said the initial findings could have other profound benefits: “Up to now surgery has often been the only viable solution to tackle chronic obesity but this research has exciting future possibilities of opening up a genuine alternative to gastric surgery. The observation that Palaeolithic diet leads to an increase in PYY raises the possibility of designing a diet that would act as a sort of nutritional bypass.”
Dr Frances Bligh, Lead Scientist at Unilever said the team now plans to work with academic colleagues to investigate some of these effects further. “We want to see if the findings could be applied to foods of the future,” he stated.