Doctor reveals £1 'daily serving' of key food can help with weight loss and cut snacking

Including one food as part of your daily diet could help with your weight loss journey according to a doctor - and it can help cut your snacking habits

A doctor has reacted to a video of a woman stating she had begun putting seeds in her water because she saw a girl said that she lost weight in just three days. Taking a TikTok Dr Karan Raj aka @dr.karanr said that whilst there is some truth behind this, people need to know why it works - and what they need to do if weight loss is their goal.

The seeds he is talking about are chia seeds and you can pick them up for as little as £1.39 for a 200g pack in ALDI. And a smaller bag could set you back even less.

In his informative video he explains: "If you eat chia seeds it could actually help with weight loss. Whilst there’s nothing uniquely special about chia seeds, this and other fibres can manipulate your microbiome, brain signals and gut hormones. Foods high in fibre tend to be some of the most satiating foods" meaning they fill you up faster."

Foods high in fibre according to the NHS include:

• Wholewheat biscuits (like Weetabix)
• Plain shredded whole grain (like Shredded wheat)
• Porridge as oats
• Wholemeal or granary breads
• Higher fibre white bread
• Wholewheat pasta
• Bulgur wheat
• Brown rice
• Potatoes with their skins on, such as a baked potato or boiled new potatoes
• Beans, lentils or chickpeas
• Vegtables
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit
• Unsalted nuts
• Some seeds

He continues: "Often they’re also low in calories so you eat fewer calories while still feeling satisfied. When you eat fibre it also results in your body releasing more appetite suppressing hormones like PYY and GLP-1. Yes, the same stuff in weight loss injections but your body's natural version."

Not only can high fibre foods make you fuller which means less snacking, "high fibre foods also have a relatively high thermic effect around 20%" and according to Dr Raj, this means that for every one hundred calories of fibre consumed, "your body burns around 20 calories trying to process and digest it".

This means that "if your daily diet consists of lots of fibre this might provide some modest effect to aid in any weight loss goal", he reveals. Talking about the effects of some food such as brown versus white bread, he says that "the degree of food processing can have an effect" on how we lose wight meaning that if we have more high fibre, this likely means less processed food which all helps in your weight loss journey.

He cautioned however that this doesn't mean you need to toss your white bread in the bin explaining: "This isn’t to say you shouldn’t eat white bread or anything which doesn’t have fibre but across a week, a month or even a year, consistent behaviour to increase fibre consumption can play a substantial role in calorie usage and intake as well as influencing factors that regulate weights and appetite."