Eating a certain 5p food for breakfast daily could help you lose weight, according to research. Studies have shown that the simple oat could aid efforts to shed the pounds.
And one study from this year even suggests that oats could have a similar effect on the body to semaglutide, a drug that can lead to effective weight loss. This is due to a type of soluble fibre found in oats called beta-glucan, which is known to slow the passage of food as it travels through your intestines – leaving you feeling fuller for longer.
Research, published in the Journal of Nutrition earlier this year, looked at the impact of beta-glucan on our gut microbiome. As part of the study, mice were fed on high-fat, high-sugar diets, and those supplemented with 10 percent beta-glucan showed significantly less weight gain, reduced fat mass, higher retention of lean mass, improved insulin sensitivity and better blood sugar levels.
It also found that when gut bacteria interact with beta-glucan it produces a metabolite called butyrate. Butyrate can induce the release of gut peptides, or messengers that regulate the functions of the gut, such as the glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1.
Semaglutide, which is also known as weight loss drug Wegovy or type 2 diabetes drugs Ozempic, is a type of GLP-1 receptor agonist – which works to mimic naturally occurring GLP-1, thus leading to weight loss. But a major difference between naturally occurring GLP-1 compared to semaglutide is its rapid degradation near the intestine. Semaglutide is made to last longer and target the brain.
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Frank Duca, study author and associate professor in the University of Arizona, said in a university release: “Part of the benefits of consuming dietary fibre is through the release of GLP-1 and other gut peptides that regulate appetite and body weight.
“However, we don’t think that’s all of the effect. We think that there are other beneficial things that butyrate could be doing that are not gut peptide related, such as improving gut barrier health and targeting peripheral organs like the liver.”
But in an article published by the BBC, microbiome scientist and registered dietitian Dr Emily Leeming, clarified that eating oats – or blending them with water as part of a TikTok trend – would not have the same effect as using semaglutide. “When you eat high-fibre foods, of which we include oats, this can trigger the kind of natural release of GLP-1, which then helps to suppress your appetite,” Dr Leeming said.
She continued: “Of course, this is not as powerful as Ozempic because Ozempic is a drug that’s delivering GLP-1 agonists in a really concentrated dose. So when it comes to ‘oat-zempic’, I do think that the claims are absolutely, wildly overblown.”
Previous studies have already linked oats with weight loss. One, published in Current Nutrition Reports in 2023, concluded that oats could help people reach and maintain a healthy weight as well as boosting the immune system and lowering cholesterol.
“Results of various studies revealed the therapeutic potentials of oats for body weight management, appetite control, strengthening the immune system, lowering serum cholesterol, and gut microbiota promotion by increased production of short-chain fatty acids,” study authors said.
A 100g bag of porridge oats can be bought for £1.25 from both Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, which works out as roughly 5p for a 40g serving.
