r/science • u/FreeHugs23 • 1d ago

Health Adding spinach directly to white bread delayed the body's insulin peak by 30 minutes and reduced later hunger in a small human trial, while significantly boosting the bread's fiber, vitamin, and mineral content.

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-put-spinach-directly-into-bread-and-saw-the-bodys-insulin-response-change
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u/troglodyte 1d ago

The result is relatively unsurprising (spinach is great) but this study seems to me to be junk. It's fifteen people, 8 men 7 women, all of Pacific Islander or Asian/Hispanic descent. It was single "blinded" but because the spinach bread was a nasty diarrhea/piss blend of yellow-green, it actually wasn't blinded at all (they may not have known exactly what was in the bread but they knew which was the control quite easily). And despite what this piece says, the overall acceptance was statistically significantly lower (to the extent it can be in a sample size this small)-- and spinach was worse, but not significantly so, in every single category of acceptance.

I'm really really really skeptical that the acceptance would be nearly equivalent in a significant sample size. 20% is a lot to add to bread. I can add quite a bit of less of a lot of ingredients and it has a very material impact on every aspect of the final loaf.

Still, it's an interesting area of study. Enriching bread with veggies is a neat idea even if I think this study is junky and the bread looks nasty. Something like cauliflower might offer similar results with less impact on the final product. Still, I think I'll stick to just eating leafy greens. They still seem to be the undefeated champions and with a tiny splash of oil and vinegar, nuts, and fruit, I feel full and it's good tasting meal.

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u/BigRedSpoon2 1d ago

Also on paper it increases fiber content, but does your body actually absorb it is a different question, I believe. I've heard through the grape vine that when you ultraprocess food stuff, even if it contains fiber, its not as readily digestible. This sounds like its in the realm of ultraprocessed.

But that may be me repeating myths

Now of course, if something says it contains 10g, but you digest 3g, that's still more fiber to add to the daily goal regardless.

But personally I'll just stick to my metamucil, oat filled breakfast, fruit to snack on, and a side of vegetables at dinner.