If your tummy rumbles 20 minutes after lunch, try adding tomatoes to your sandwich. Researchers in the UK have found the fruit can keep you satiated for longer, the UK's Daily Mail reported.
In the University of Reading study, a small group of women aged between 18 and 35 in the healthy weight range were given a cream-cheese sandwich on white bread with either added carrot or tomato. The subject's hunger level was then recorded to see which ingredient was more effective at keeping them full.
While researchers thought the carrot’s fibre would be more satisfying, the tomato sandwhich came out the winner.
“It was such a small study, and we can’t yet say what the crucial tomato ingredient is, but the results were statistically significant,” researcher Dr Julie Lovegrove said at a nutrition conference in France.
Lypocene, which gives tomatoes their red colour, may be the possible hunger-busting ingredient, which would only add to its growing list of benefits to the body, the Daily Mail reported.
Lypocene has also been linked to a reduction in the risk of prostate cancer and researchers at the universities of Manchester and Newcastle have also discovered its anti-ageing and skin-protecting potential.
One of the biggest diet downfalls is giving into hunger pangs, so simply adding tomatoes to your meals — cooked is best — not only adds a flavour and vitamin boost, but could keep those cravings at bay, too.
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