Breakfast for a slimmer you!

Is your expanding waistline giving you nightmares? Well, take heart. Researchers have found that a breakfast of muesli with milk, tinned peaches and yoghurt can help weight loss.

Experts at the University of Nottingham suggest that the low GI breakfast with apple juice helps the body break down fat better than a high Glycaemic Index start to the day of sugary cereal and white toast, reports The Daily Express .

Scientists discovered that the type of food you eat before exercise can directly impact on your health. A study led by Dr Emma Stevenson looked at young women after an overnight fast. In one study period they were given a breakfast of food known to cause large rises in blood glucose – those with a high GI, including cornflakes and milk, white bread and jam and a fizzy, sugary drink.

In another period, they breakfasted on food with a low GI, although both breakfasts had the same amount of calories, carbohydrate, fat and protein. The low GI breakfast was muesli, milk, tinned peaches, yoghurt and apple juice. Three hours after eating, the women walked for an hour on a treadmill. A lunch – the same in both study periods – was then provided. Throughout the day blood samples and samples of expired air were taken.

From analyses, researchers found blood glucose levels were higher after the high GI breakfast than the low one, and had returned to normal by the time the women began to exercise. However, plasma free fatty acids (FFA) – which show the amount of fat used up for energy – began to rise two hours after the low GI breakfast, the researchers found. Exercise then led to a rapid increase in FFAs in both groups – but concentrations were higher in the low GI group. After lunch the concentration of FFAs was the same in both groups, but overall fat oxidation was higher in the low GI group than the high GI group.

Dr Stevenson said: “We concluded that consuming a low GI breakfast increases fat oxidation both at rest and during subsequent exercise. A low GI breakfast also had an impact on appetite, with test subjects feeling fuller for longer after they’d eaten these types of foods.” - TOI

Sunglasses, this season

The 70s look is back in vogue. With sunglasses too. And, especially, coloured rim shades. Nobody wears it better than Bollywood. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Kangna Ranaut hold their heads high off the sets while Mumbai’s swish set of society ladies like Avanti Birla, Anju Taraporewala, Ramona Narang take the trend to the racecourse and brunches with equal elan.

Eyewear brands are placing their bet this season on oversized sunglasses which come with a signature rim. Coloured rims, some encrusted with Swarowski crystals, some with pointy edges, shades with butterfly or cupid motif on the arms, are instant hits.

Salil Chaturvedi of Provogue eyewear says, “It’s exciting to see people experimenting with sunglasses. No one’s playing safe by going the regular cliched way. Sunglasses are a reflection of one’s attitude and so the shape, size and colour are completely out-of-the-box, yet very wearable.” Agreed, for style icon Saif Ali Khan, whose sunglasses are often made-to-order, now sports his pair with a coloured thin red rim.

Giving a thumb-ups to Aishwarya’s white rimmed bumblebee shades, Yogesh Shah of Mojo eyewear emphasises, “White rims are really in. In fact, coloured rims like red and amber are fast catching up. The best news is that fashionable eyewear is no longer too expensive. Even collegians can flaunt the new-age look quite comfortably.”

Actress Soha Ali Khan, who is a big fan of laminates, is gung-ho about yellow coloured lenses in oversized frames. In fact, laminates is another trend which has set in this season. Thanks to the Dev D look of actor Abhay Deol, laminates have gone down well with men too. “Tommy Hilfiger has a limited edition of teardrop shaped laminates which capture the summer feel fairly well,” says Soha.

Deepak Agarwal of Kazo eyewear, celebrating the return of the 70s look, says, “Go the Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore and Parveen Babi way by grabbing your pair of white rimmed sunglasses. It’s the coolest way to beat the glare.”

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