Was there a particular reason that breakfast was the meal you chose to focus on for this study?
Dr Sarah Berry For the PREDICT study we had two components. One was a tightly controlled clinic day, where people were attending our clinic in the UK at St Thomas’ Hospital, or the clinic in the USA at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. And we gave them what we call a ‘metabolic challenge meal’ – a standardised, high-fat, high-carb meal for breakfast, in the form of a muffin and a milkshake. Then we gave them a standardised lunch to really stress their systems so we could start to differentiate people’s responses.
Then they entered a two-week at-home phase where they were fitted with various wearable technology, such as a continuous glucose monitor. During the at-home phase we provided them with standardised breakfasts with different macronutrient compositions for the whole two weeks. They differed each day in terms of the fat, protein, carbohydrate and fibre content. By giving it to them as a breakfast, it meant that everyone came to them standardised, as they’d all fasted overnight. We asked them to avoid exercise, because we know exercise can modulate your glycaemic response. Then, after three hours, they were allowed to eat freely, whichever meals they wanted, and we call this ad libitum. This way we could also look in a very real-life context, as well as in this tightly controlled context.
What did you find?
Denne historien er fra September/October 2021-utgaven av Very Interesting.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September/October 2021-utgaven av Very Interesting.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TAKE IT SLOW
Slow running is a fitness trend with some hard and fast science behind it
Physics, AI and music share a common thread. You just have to know where to look
Studying science can lead you in many directions and open doors to unexpected possibilities along the way
BED BUGS VS THE WORLD
When bloodthirsty bed bugs made headlines for infesting Paris Fashion Week in 2023, it shone a spotlight on a problem that's been making experts itch for decades: the arms race going on between bed bugs and humans
Kids are the key to understanding obesity. But we need more of their genes...
We can unravel the role that bodyweight plays in disease, but we need a bigger, more diverse, sample of genetic material to do so
COVID inquiry: What did we learn and what can we do better in future pandemics?
Masks, social distancing, lockdowns... how effective was the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
One hormone could be the key that unlocks a cure for morning sickness
The nausea and vomiting that, in extreme cases, can endanger mothers and babies might soon be just a memory
THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST CREATURES
Under the sea and upon the land, some animals look - to us - pretty strange...
WHEN MIND AND MACHINE COLLIDE
First, Elon Musk wanted to make electric cars ubiquitous, then he wanted to make space exploration a private enterprise. Now, with Neuralink, his newest venture, Musk hopes to merge humans and artificial intelligence. Turns out, it might not be such a crazy idea...
COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL
Social anxiety is more than just being shy. It's a phobia born out of our evolutionary past. But that raises a puzzling question: why do so many of us fear human interaction when we're supposed to be the most sociable species on the planet?
SPACE ODDITIES
Take a tour of the weirdest spots in the universe, where the 'normal' rules don't apply. Places that squeeze time, blow bubbles and even rain glass... sideways
