Episode 1 Britain's Favourite Supermarket Foods

There's one thing we can't argue with when it comes to our shopping.

We Brits love our food.

In fact, every year, we get through an astonishing amount of it.

We drink 60 billion cups of tea!

That's enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall over 150 times.

Every year we eat over 4 billion loaves of bread.

That's enough to fill Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium more than 300 times.

We cook 185,000 tonnes of pasta.

That's enough to fill Leeds Town Hall twice over.

We're used to hearing all the bad news about the food we eat

'but I'd like to know the good news.'

I'm Cherry Healey and I want to know more about the food we buy,

the supermarket staples that we put in our shopping trolleys

every single week.

'I'm keen to see if science can help us

'unlock the secrets of our favourite foods.'

'So, in this programme,

'I'm going to dive deep into our supermarket trolleys

'to reveal how we can enjoy our favourite foods

'without necessarily piling on the pounds.'

And to do that, I need some help

and who better to ask than the good people of Britain?

Across the country, our volunteers are raring to go.

'I'll be with these highland dancers in the north of Scotland,

'unlocking the secret powers of porridge.'

'I'll be with these London office workers,

'finding out which sandwich can help us stop snacking before teatime.'

I'm hungry. I could eat.

'And in Cambridge, I'll discover whether a supermarket staple

'really can help five brides-to-be lose weight.'

It's time to test Britain's favourite supermarket foods.

CHEERING

For some of us, the supermarket can be a temple of temptation.

Aisle after aisle of sugary confections

lay waste to our best-laid plans to watch our waistlines.

For our first favourite food, I've come to Glasgow in Scotland

to take on the most tempting item in our shopping trolleys.

It's our favourite baked treat and a national institution.

Almost 90% of us enjoy them

and an extraordinary 11% eat them for breakfast.

What could it be other than the great British biscuit?

We Brits are bonkers about biscuits.

We spend an astonishing £2.4 billion on them a year.

And if anyone appreciates a sugary, crunchy treat, it's the Scots.

Legions of biscuits have been leaving this factory for 60 years.

More than 30 million come off the production line every month.

But when it comes to the crunch, which are our absolute favourites?

I'm taking to the streets of Glasgow on a biscuity mission.

I've set up my very own biscuit stand

to find out what our favourites are and why.

Mine is the pink wafer.

Looks, it matches!

But what about everyone else?

What are your favourite biscuits?

-I don't know.

-Chocolate HobNob.

-Yeah.

-Jaffa cakes.

Shortbread or digestives.

The nation's favourite biscuits are...

In fifth place, Rice Krispie Squares.

In fourth place, Jaffa Cakes.

In third, a surprise low-fat entry, Go Aheads.

In second place, KitKats.

One finger is never enough.

And in their coveted first position,

McVities Digestives. Mmm!

But there's no doubt that when it comes to losing weight,

the biscuit is not our friend.

Our burning love of them has derailed many a diet.

-You can have two if you want.

-Ah!

-How many biscuits do you think you eat a day?

-I would say ten.

I don't know. I'm guessing. I would say ten.

-Do you often eat biscuits?

-Breakfast, lunch, supper.

-What's the most biscuits you've ever eaten in one day?

-A full packet.

-A packet of HobNobs.

-No! Chocolate ones?

-Yes.

-After you've eaten loads of biscuits, how do you feel?

-Good.

THEY LAUGH

So why do we love biscuits quite so much?

Well, scientists believe

we are fundamentally designed to crave sugar

as it's essential fuel for our brains.

And if all that sugar wasn't attractive enough,

it turns out we are also lured by the variety biscuit tin.

Scientists think that the way we respond to food

has a huge amount to do with how much choice we're offered.

MUSIC: "Je T'Aime" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin

Studies have shown that if we are exposed to a variety of different foods,

we are far more likely to eat more of them.

# Mon amour, je t'aime... #

So is there any way I can trick myself into eating fewer biscuits?

I've come to Bangor in Wales to see some scientists

who've been studying the effect of food variety on our brains.

But before I meet them, I'm going to conduct my own research

with the staff at the local hospital.

'I want to find out

'whether having a choice of biscuits influences how many we eat.'

I've set up a highly scientific experiment

with these two plates of biscuits.

One has only orange Party Rings.

The other has multicoloured Party Rings. Let's see what happens.

'The only difference between the two plates

'is the colour of the biscuits.'

It's clear from the start the staff of Bangor hospital love them.

Steady on!

After 40 minutes, the multicoloured biscuits have all gone.

Totally empty!

And lots of orange ones left. Proof that we really do love variety.

'So what's going on in our heads

'when we're presented with a choice of foods?

'At Bangor University, a team of scientists are going to show me

'with an MRI scan how much my brain craves variety.'

Is that comfortable?

'In order for it to work, I've had to skip breakfast and I'm starving.'

-OK, Cherry, how are you doing?

-Fine, thank you.

OK, so here comes the first scan.

In the MRI, I am shown pictures of very different foods.

Some biscuits...

..some mango...

..and just for good measure,

anchovies.

My brain's response to these is recorded on the scan.

Oh, I could murder a custard cream!

Professor Francis McGlone and his colleague, Dr Paul Mullan,

now know exactly how my brain behaves when I'm hungry.

I feel really weird and a bit sleepy.

And I really, really want a biscuit!

Which is lucky, because Professor McGlone now wants me to munch

'as many custard creams as I can.'

Nightmare! What a horrible task.

I'm just going to bring them closer so you can't get them.

What are you expecting to happen after me eating biscuits?

We'd like you to eat enough of those biscuits

that the idea of eating another one is no longer motivating or pleasant.

Just keep eating them until you find

that you really don't want another one.

Who am I to argue with a psychology professor?

I'm still really enjoying them.

We've only got 30 more left.

You may have to run to the shops because I'm still going.

I thought I was going to eat five. This is actually number eight.

I've surprised myself today.

I'm starting to tail off and feel quite full.

It's a tough job and I, you know, someone's got to do it.

Back in the MRI, I am shown all the same photos again.

Now I've stuffed myself with custard creams,

will I find them less appealing?

My brain data has been collected from the scans into a graph.

The graph shows a steep drop in interest

when it comes to custard creams.

So when you were seeing the custard creams for the second time,

they're much less exciting

because you've eaten too many of them, basically.

'But although I may not want custard creams any more,

'it doesn't mean I've lost my appetite.'

I'm now thrilled by chocolate chip cookies

and my love for anchovies has gone through the roof.

So because I've had so many custard creams, the graph shows

that my brain is now excited by anything that tastes different.

What a nightmare!

It's so hard to resist the power of variety.

As long as there's choice on offer, you can keep eating for far longer.

This is why you can always find room for dessert, even though

you've just eaten a big main course.

But by studying people's brains, we now understand more

about how temptation works and how to resist the biscuit.

Now there's a small ray of hope -

the fact we find a single biscuit flavour less appealing.

Let's face it, biscuits are never a good idea

if you're trying to lose weight,

but if you have to have them in your cupboard,

try sticking to one variety.

You may end up eating less.

From our most popular baked treat to our most popular lunch.

In fact, you could say it's a national obsession.

Almost 80% of us eat them.

It's the great British sandwich!

CHEERING

We eat 11.5 billion of them every year.

And here in London,

we buy more sandwiches than anywhere else in the UK -

600 million of them.

How often do you eat sandwiches?

-I'm afraid I have a sandwich every day.

-Every single day?

-How often do you eat sandwiches?

-Every day.

-Every day.

-Once a day.

-Twice a day.

But can our choice of sandwich help us manage our weight?

To find out, I've brought in food scientist Dr Alex Johnstone

from the Rowett Institute.

One of the main reasons why people break a diet

and fail to lose weight is because they feel hungry.

Often, people have their sandwich at lunchtime

and then reach the afternoon,

sort of biscuit barrel moment of having a chocolate fix,

so really, the filling of the sandwich is incredibly important.

So can choosing the right sandwich at lunchtime

really help us stop snacking in the afternoon?

With Alex's help, I'm going to find out.

Alex has designed a demonstration

to show this group of busy office workers

which sandwich could help stop them snacking later in the day.

She's added mayonnaise and salad

to the nation's most popular sandwich filling - chicken.

First of all, our guinea pigs are divided into three groups -

green, blue, and red.

-Thank you.

-To make sure everyone starts off feeling equally hungry,

at 9:30, each group has exactly the same breakfast.

Then, three hours later, they are all given lunch at the same time.

They all have one of Alex's sandwiches

specially created for the test.

All the office workers are going to have a chicken mayonnaise sandwich

but they're not all the same. But they all do look delicious.

All the chicken sandwiches have exactly the same number of calories.

But the red group is having a sandwich with more chicken in it than the others.

The blue group is having a sandwich with more mayonnaise.

And the green group's sandwich has more bread than the other two groups.

All the workers believe they're eating exactly the same sandwich.

'I want to know which one'

will fill them up the most, and so stop them snacking later in the day.

For the rest of the afternoon, it's back to work for our volunteers.

They keep a record of how hungry they feel

by filling in appetite forms every half an hour.

These will reveal who continues to feel full

'and who will be raiding the tea trolley at 4pm.'

How hungry do you feel right now?

-Pretty hungry.

-I feel pretty full, yeah.

I think I'm beginning to get a little hungry again.

I tend to snack a bit in the afternoon.

I'm hungry. I could eat.

From their responses,

Alex calculates the results for each group.

She's also got a final hunger test for our guinea pigs -

the 4 o'clock buffet.

I can't wait to see who eats the most.

Once the groups have had their fill at the buffet,

Alex weighs the food that's left

to work out how much each group has eaten.

From this, she calculates how many calories they've had

and therefore, which sandwich has stopped them from snacking the most.

And the results are in.

Hi! Thank you so much for taking part in our experiment.

So the blue group had a sandwich that was higher in fat,

so it had more mayonnaise.

The green group had a sandwich that was higher in carbohydrates,

so there was more bread,

and the red group had a sandwich that had more chicken in it,

so it was the highest protein sandwich.

So, which sandwich was the most filling?

Which group ate the fewest calories per person at the buffet?

The high-protein group ate significantly less

than the other two groups,

so the high-protein sandwich was keeping you fuller for longer

and you ate less food.

Dr Alex and other scientists have done larger versions of our test

and found the same results.

So why did the extra chicken in the red group's sandwiches

stop them snacking?

Chicken is a protein.

When we eat protein,

the enzymes in our stomach break it down into amino acids,

which travel in our bloodstream to our brain

and tell us we are full up.

So if you want to make your own sandwich

that could fill you up till teatime,

pack it full of protein.

Our survey of ready-made supermarket sandwiches

found the protein content varied enormously.

Sandwiches containing chicken came out top most often

and most consistently.

If you are a vegetarian and want a higher protein option,

try egg and cress or cheese and tomato.

When it comes to staying slim, we're told never to skip breakfast.

It's the most important meal of the day.

Go to any supermarket

and you'll see hundreds of varieties of one of our favourite foods.

It's so popular we spent a whopping £1.4 billion on it last year.

Turns out we are completely serious...

about cereal. Whether it's sugary, wheaty, flaky or puffy,

we chomp through more than anyone else in Europe.

With all this choice, how can we pick one that

will stop us piling on the pounds?

There is one cereal that might be able to help us in the battle of the bulge.

And, if you choose it, you'd be in very good company.

After all, Madonna, Bill Gates

and Nigella Lawson are all said to eat it for breakfast.

British sales of it topped nearly £200 million last year.

And this favourite food... is porridge.

If anyone knows a thing or two about porridge, it's the Scots.

It's been part of their diet since medieval times.

So, where better to discover the science on porridge

than the World Porridge Making Championships

here in Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands?

A special welcome

to our competitors from Denmark, from New Zealand,

from Sweden, the United States...

People come from all over the globe

to compete for the coveted Golden Spurtle.

A spurtle is a wooden tool

historically used for porridge-making.

And I wouldn't dream of coming to a Scottish porridge-making

competition without dressing the part.

Competitors, are you ready?

Please light your fires and start the World Porridge Making Championships.

'All around me,

'contestants are concentrating on making the perfect porridge.

'Each one of them has their own secret recipe.

'And they're a very committed bunch.'

Are you passionate about porridge?

I am deeply, deeply passionate about porridge.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Wow, World Porridge Champion 2010.

I see you have your spurtle.

Yes, I do and my spurtle is specially made out of myrtlewood

-from Oregon.

-You've got a spurtle made of myrtle?

It has magical powers.

A spurtle made of myrtle.

What do you think is so good about porridge?

Number one, it's Scottish.

That wasn't quite the answer I was expecting,

but in the judges' chambers, they certainly believe in the powers of porridge.

It's all very serious, but the serious thing for me is,

if kids get something like this into their tummies

in the morning, that releases energy all day, then we really

-would have a brainy population.

-Do you think porridge is good for you?

I do. I know it's good for you.

But is there any science to back the judges' claims?

While the competition reaches boiling point,

I take some time out to talk to Professor Derek Stewart

from the James Hutton Institute.

If anyone can help me unpack the positive properties of porridge, then it's going to be him.

So, what's so good about porridge?

Well, porridge is made from oats,

and oats contain many wonderful things that the body needs.

It has vitamin E, it has vitamin B, which is folic acid,

good for pregnant women.

We can see from it just lying here in the bowl, the segments of oat in there,

it's gone through minimal processing.

The same can't be said for other breakfast cereals.

So you think porridge is a bit of a wonder food?

I think it's outstanding.

Derek tells me oats also have a special advantage over

our processed breakfast cereals.

They contain a fibre called beta glucan, which may

protect against heart disease and could help us manage our weight.

-So, what is beta glucan?

-Essentially,

it's soluble dietary fibre in oats, so when you're cooking it,

you have your hot water, you put the porridge in, you start to stir.

The beta glucan essentially dissolves out and soaks up that water

and forms a gloopy, thick mass.

So you consume the porridge, it makes you feel full for longer

and it switches the signals off in the body telling you you're hungry.

-Which technically might stop me snacking.

-Correct.

'Derek has brought along porridge's wonder ingredient -

'pure beta glucan, which has been specially milled from some oats.'

It's just been extracted, very natural.

'He adds two grams, about the same as in a single serving of porridge,

'to boiling water.'

It will start to thicken up.

-So this is what's happening when you're cooking porridge?

-Yeah.

Of course, when you cook porridge,

it takes a fair amount of time to thicken. It's not instant food.

I'm not very patient.

'In a few minutes, the beta glucan mixture transforms

'into a thick, gluey paste.'

Well, it's quite obvious to see.

You can see it alone just from the spatula, how viscous it is,

-but the proof is in the pudding.

-Oh, my goodness me.

That's SO thick.

So that's what's going on inside my stomach?

That's why porridge makes me feel so full?

Beta glucan - porridge's amazing filling ingredient.

But you don't have to gulp neat beta glucan to feel full up till lunch.

Back in the speciality round of the Golden Spurtle,

all sorts of wild and wonderful ingredients are pepping up porridge.

You've got bacon...

I've got bacon, I've got pecans, I've got curd sauce,

I've got maple syrup.

Wow! I never knew you could do so many things with porridge.

You may not want to add bacon, and perhaps double cream

is going a bit far, but swapping water for milk

will pump up your porridge protein levels, making you feel even fuller.

And if you want sweet rather than savoury,

stay off the golden syrup and add fruit for a healthier breakfast.

Time for the nail-biting finale. It's the moment of truth.

Who will win the coveted Golden Spurtle?

Ladies and gentlemen,

the winner of the 2012 Golden Spurtle goes to Benedict Horsbrugh.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'It's a surprise victory for an Englishman,' but the Scots take it well.

-Congratulations, you won the Golden Spurtle!

-I'm speechless.

I saw when you were making it, you were stirring it a lot, way more than anyone else.

-Oh, really?

-Why?

-I thought that's what you were meant to do.

'It's not over yet.

'Who will triumph in the Speciality Porridge category?'

The winner of the 2012 trophy for Speciality Porridge is Laurie Figonie...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'It's an emotional moment for Laurie Figonie,

'all the way from the USA with her spurtle of myrtle.'

What an amazing day. I've always thought porridge was just porridge -

it's really good for you, but not necessarily that exciting.

But today I've learned that you can prepare it in so many different ways.

I feel really inspired to go home and make it.

I have eaten a lot of porridge today

and I think that now I need to go and burn it off.

And what better way to do it than at a traditional Highland ceilidh?

Oh, cheeky!

So, if you're watching your weight, why not give porridge a whirl?

This lot can definitely vouch for it.

So far, I've learnt the best way to outwit my love of biscuits...

a great breakfast that will keep me full till lunch...

..and the sandwich that should stop me chomping chocolate at teatime.

But what happens if I just can't resist a snack?

Is there a savoury treat I can eat that won't make me

scared of the scales?

There's no doubt we are a nation of snackers

and one of our biggest obsessions is with salty snacks.

Last year, we ate an amazing eight billion packets of crisps.

That's a whopping 128 packets per person.

And there is one snack food that's become more and more popular.

In fact, last year, we spent £345 million on them.

As a nation, we are nuts about nuts.

We nibbled our way through 227,000 tons of them last year.

This processing plant in London is one of the biggest in the country

for baking, seasoning and caramelising nuts,

with over 10,000 kilograms running off its conveyor belts every single week.

So, why are we so nutty about nuts?

Londoners buy more of them than anyone else in Britain.

So, I've come to Spitalfields market to find out if we really have fallen in love with nuts.

-Excuse me, can I offer you a nut?

-Yes, certainly.

-Actually, I am a nut.

-You are a nut and you like nuts?

My favourite nut is the cashew.

In the winter time, I savour the cashew,

and during the summer I go for the walnut.

-Do you like nuts?

-Yeah!

-I love nuts.

What is it that you like about nuts?

I think they are nutritional and it's good for the body,

so that's why I eat them.

They may be nutritious, but I hardly ever eat them.

I've been told nuts have one scary quality.

They are really, really high in fat.

Not a great recipe, perhaps, for managing your weight.

So I've invited dietician Sian Porter round to crack open the secret of your average nut.

Nuts are high in fat. Over 50% fat.

That means they are high in calories.

And you're probably familiar with this, when you look at peanut butter

in the morning, the oil.

That's the fat coming out of the peanuts.

-This is why I don't eat nuts.

-Well, it is fat,

but the good news is the type of fat in nuts is mostly good fat,

so the polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat, which is

the fat which is good for heart health.

The evidence shows that some popular nuts like almonds won't make you put on weight.

Sian says I won't get fat from eating nuts, but I have my doubts.

I want to know whether eating high-fat nuts will make me

pile on the pounds, so for the next four weeks,

Sian is going to put me on a very nutty diet.

'Sian tells me that the latest scientific research for this experiment

'has been done using almonds.'

So how are we going to test your nut theory out?

Well, what we want you to do for the next month,

you're going to have not one, not two,

but three portions of almonds everyday.

So everything else is going to stay the same, don't change your diet

at all, the only change is you're having three portions of almonds.

That's a lot of calories. How many calories is in that bowl of almonds?

OK, in that bowl of almonds, there will be just under 500 calories.

But over the month - are you ready for it? -

there's going to be 14,500 calories...

spread over the month.

And that is the same as if you were going to eat, over the month...

50, five-zero, chocolate eclairs.

-Can't I just eat eclairs?

-The experiment is about nuts.

I have to say, I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed by this.

Just knowing how many calories

are in this bowl of nuts,

and I've got eat the whole thing in four weeks.

I don't know, it's just a little bit scary.

But there's no going back.

First, I'm weighed and measured. Then the nuts are.

I'm not even sure if I've got enough containers for them all.

And, to make sure I don't cheat over the month,

I have to keep a food diary.

Day three of the almond diet.

I've actually nearly finished half of my quota for the day.

What I've discovered is that they're incredibly moreish,

and I can pack away quite a lot of almonds in a very short space of time without even realising it.

So, today, I've done a week of the almond diet. Hurray! It's been fine.

Day nine of the almond diet.

It's about seven o'clock, I'm about to go out for dinner.

I have got quite a few almonds left to eat.

On the plus side, that means I probably won't have a massive pudding, which is good news.

On the minus side, I'm starting to get a little bit

bored of almonds, which is concerning, cos it's only day nine.

Quite a long way to go yet.

So, it's day 21 - yay -

I can see the light at the end of the nutty tunnel.

Just found my daughter in a little corner with my nuts.

I'm trying to count how many she's eaten. Oh, don't spit it out!

So, Sian, I did it. I've eaten 14,500 calories worth of almonds.

I have got a few left, but I think I've done pretty well.

-Save those for a treat!

-I'll save those for tonight!

It's time to find out whether eating the calorie equivalent

of 50 eclairs in a month has wound up on my waistline.

-Right, really interesting.

-Interesting? Interesting?

We would have expected you to put on over four pounds,

considering the 14,500 calories. Actually,

-you've put on just over a pound.

-How can that be? How can that be?!

Where has all the fat in the almonds gone?

I've eaten an extra 14,500 calories and I've only put on a pound.

How on earth has that worked?

The almonds are really high in fibre, so they fill you up.

They also contain protein, and again, protein makes you feel full.

But the other reason,

if you could just bear to have a few more almonds, I know you like them...

Sian...

If you just take a handful and chew them, and then, I know it's bit uncouth,

but if you just spit them out into this bowl... SHE LAUGHS

You, I'm watching you.

It's all right, your mother is not watching!

-OK, so if we...

-Urgh!

'Don't panic, viewers, she's a scientist.'

So, you can see here,

although it's been mashed up by your chewing,

there's still some quite big lumps of nuts in there.

That's how it was in your mouth

and that's how it will go down into your digestive system.

'Sian shows me a highly magnified image of a piece of chewed-up nut,

'like the lovely one I prepared earlier.'

These are the cells that are inside the nuts,

and inside, these dots here, that's the fat inside the nuts.

So these are still what we would say are intact,

they haven't been broken down.

'So the nut cells are largely undamaged

'after I've chewed them, but surely all that fat will get

'released into my body after the nuts have gone through my gut? Or will they?'

This is what happens with the chewed nuts.

They pass through the digestive system,

and this is what they look like when they come out the other end.

-Does that mean that's a poo slide?

-It is! It is.

'And the amazing thing is, that there's not that much

'difference between the chewed nut slide and the pooed nut slide.'

You've still got a lot of cells that aren't actually broken down.

That's amazing.

So a lot of the cells containing the fat just go straight through?

Absolutely.

Brand-new research on almonds has found

we only absorb around three-quarters of the calories, and there's

evidence to suggest we don't absorb all the fat from other nuts, either.

So, they're worth including in your diet

because they're really good for you.

They're a great source of protein and fibre

and they're packed with vital nutrients.

Three to four brazil nuts will give you your daily dose of selenium,

essential for a good immune system, and pistachios contain

potassium, which is necessary for your body's growth.

But because nuts are so filling,

you should definitely stick to only 28 grams of whole nuts a day

to make sure you're getting lots of other foods in your diet.

And remember, they do have to be whole nuts.

If you eat finely chopped nuts or not butter, your body will

absorb much more fat and you are more likely to put on weight.

So, if you're watching your waistline, don't say no to nuts.

They could be your secret weapon.

Now we're off to Greater Manchester, where they produce more canned food

than anywhere else in the country.

We British believe the tin is king.

After all, we gave it a patent in 1810.

And at this factory in Wigan, there's one canned food that

tops the charts when it comes to our favourites.

It's cheap, convenient and comes in all sorts of flavours.

And this well-loved supermarket staple is soup.

We spent over £360 million on it last year.

We also managed to get through 496 million tins of it.

Our most popular flavours are vegetable...

chicken...

and our absolute favourite is tomato.

This is Europe's largest soup factory.

In one month alone, it produced 57 million tins of soup.

If you line those tins end to end,

it would stretch from Wigan to Chicago.

Here in Wigan, 1,600 tins roll off the production line every minute.

We obviously think soup is super, but can it help us fight the flab?

I've called in Prof Marion Hetherington to meet me

at a nearby community hall to discover the secrets of soup.

So, can I use soup as a way to manage my weight?

Well, soup as a first course in a meal,

or even as a course on its own,

is quite filling,

so you'll feel full for longer, you'll be less tempted to

snack in the afternoon, so soup is an all-round good food.

Not only does it fill you up,

but Marion has a demonstration to show how it could help you eat less.

If you have a soup to start, it is so filling

and so comforting, you're less likely to eat as much in the second course.

So, although you've had two courses,

overall, your total energy intake will be lower.

So I'm filling up on something that's quite low in calories

and packed full of goodness, so I MIGHT leave some of my chips?

You might.

I want to see if Marion's theory holds true, so I found

a group of Wigan women who know all about watching their waistlines.

In fact, it's everyone else who watches their waistlines,

because they are fabulous belly dancers.

BELLS JINGLE

# Well, she's all you'd ever want

# She's the kind I'd like to flaunt and take to dinner

# She's a lady... #

They may be keen belly dancers,

but will they be as enthusiastic about our soup demonstration?

For our test, our belly dancers are going to be served

a two-course meal with a difference.

Our ladies are split into two groups.

One group is served soup as a starter.

This is your first course,

and we'd like you to have all of the soup that's there, OK?

Bon appetit.

-The other group gets a glass of water.

-Don't fill up on your water.

Each bowl of soup is 135 calories. A glass of water is zero calories.

So, in theory, the people who've had the soup should consume

less calories, even though they've had two courses?

That's the theory, that their soup will help to promote satiation,

-so they should eat less overall.

-That's the theory.

-Indeed.

But will it work? The next course is macaroni cheese.

Weighing in at 1,500 calories per plate,

that's almost a whole day's recommended intake of calories.

In this course, we would like you to have as little

or as much as you would like, until you feel comfortably full.

After their delicious starter of a glass of water,

the other group is also given macaroni cheese.

Once everyone has eaten as much as they want,

their plates are taken away

so Marion can work out how many calories they've had in total.

I really can't wait to find out the results of this experiment.

I can't believe that two courses would mean that you consume

less calories than one course.

So, who ate the least?

The glass of water and macaroni group

ate 975 calories per person, on average.

But even though they had two courses,

the soup and macaroni group

ate 807 calories per person, on average.

That 17% fewer calories.

-Ladies, are you ready for the reveal of the experiment?

-ALL: Yes.

-Excited?

-ALL: Yes.

So, even though you had two courses, and you only had one,

this group actually ended up eating nearly 20% less calories.

ALL: Whoo!

So, why does adding soup to your meal make you eat less?

Research has shown that when we eat soup,

its large volume remains in our stomach, filling it up for longer.

This stretches the stomach,

which signals to the brain that we are full.

Choose chunky vegetable over creamy soups,

as they tend to be lower in calories and are just as filling.

So, if you want keep your weight down, something as simple as adding

soup to your meal might stop you murdering your main course.

And from our favourite tinned food to our favourite frozen dessert -

85% of us buy it

and sales of it hit £1.6 billion last year.

This is one frozen favourite we just can't get enough of.

It has to be ice cream.

We're definitely keen on it.

We bought 392 million litres of ice cream last year.

That's 6.3 litres per person.

Our absolute favourite flavour is classic vanilla,

followed by chocolate.

But much as we love it, if we're watching our weight,

ice cream is definitely a guilty pleasure.

-What is the hardest thing about ice cream?

-I can't get enough of it.

I have to eat it until my tongue goes numb

and I'm still sort of eating like that.

Is there anything annoys you about ice cream?

For me, it is because there is never enough. I need more all the time.

So, if we can't give up our delicious desserts,

is there any way we can enjoy our ice cream without overindulging?

I'm meeting Dr Katherine McCullough from Imperial College London to see

if science can help us eat ice cream without bursting our trousers.

We know that how we eat our food has a profound influence,

actually, on how full we feel, how hungry we feel after a meal.

So it's not just the food we're eating, but it's how we eat it?

Exactly.

Katherine wants to show me

that how fast we eat can have an effect on how full we feel.

In her local London cinema, she has set up a demonstration

with two groups - the yellow group and the red group.

Both will eat the same volume of ice cream,

but over different lengths of time.

All the volunteers have had nothing to eat since the night before.

First up is the slow-eating yellow group.

This group has 30 minutes to finish all of their ice cream.

Bon appetit. Get eating!

The yellow group are given small portions of ice cream

at ten-minute intervals.

After 30 minutes, their time is up and straight away

they fill out forms which show how hungry they are.

How do you feel?

-You didn't look too happy about that last pot of ice cream.

-I'm full now.

-I don't want to eat any more ice cream.

-No more ice cream?

-Never again...I think.

-Never again?

Next is the speed-eating red group.

Enjoy.

And they have to eat all of their ice cream in only five minutes.

-You ready, guys?

-MAN: Yes.

-Dig in.

The red group also fill out forms immediately after,

to record how hungry they are.

-How do you feel?

-Starving.

-Really?

I can eat more. Just add little sprinkles.

From the forms, Katherine calculates the results.

Which group felt fuller after eating ice cream -

the quick eaters or the slow eaters?

Time for the results now.

The group that ate the ice cream over five minutes felt twice as hungry.

They all felt that they could eat more,

and did not feel nearly as full

as the group who ate the ice cream over 30 minutes.

This is an effect seen repeatedly in trials.

Back at the cafe, Katherine gives me the scoop.

Why would taking longer to eat ice cream make us more full?

What we know is that when we eat any kind of food,

the food goes into our guts, hormones are released there,

they signal to our brain and say, "Whoa, stop eating, you're full,"

and we eat less. We stop eating our meal.

What happens if you eat quickly?

So, if we were to wolf down the ice cream just now...

-I don't mind if I do!

-..we'd get this kind of sharp rise in hormones,

we'd get a burst of signal to our brain, but not long enough.

The stimulus to the gut is not long enough there to make us stop eating

-and stop feeling so hungry.

-And the great news is,

science suggests eating slowly can work with any food.

One study found people who ate a meal slowly

ate 10% fewer calories.

So, if you're trying to watch your waistline

but you can't resist the ice cream urge, remember this tip.

Try eating slowly, not more.

For us supermarket shoppers,

it's hard to imagine a greater delight than the dairy aisle.

Or a greater threat to our waistlines.

Last year, we bought nearly 93 million litres of cream,

over 500 million packets of butter

and over 5 billion litres of milk.

But when it comes to weight loss,

is our beloved dairy something to be avoided?

To find out about our final favourite food,

I've come to the romantic city of Cambridge.

But I'm not here to admire the architecture.

I've arranged to meet five brides-to-be

who want to slim down in time for their big day.

Hi, I'm Teresa.

I'm getting married next year, and I want to be a beautiful bride,

not a fat one.

My name is Gemma.

It's 11 weeks till my big day and I want to be straight down,

not round, for my wedding day.

I'm Penny.

I get married in 12 weeks and I want to drop a dress size,

so I am the same size I was when I met my fiance.

I'm Karen and I'm getting married in 15 weeks.

I want to be curvy and not fat for my big day.

I'm Debbie.

I get married in three months' time and I'm looking forward to losing

as much weight as possible before my wedding.

And they're not alone.

A UK survey found that 44% of people planning to marry

intend to lose weight for their wedding.

So, I'd really like to know if there's something that could

help our brides slim down.

I've called back dietician Sian to ask her expert advice.

So, is there an everyday food that can help our brides lose weight?

Well, yes.

One of the things that we're going to use with them is low-fat dairy,

and one of the easiest ways for them to eat that is

-by including yoghurt in their diet.

-Really?

I'm quite surprised, because I keep reading reports that

-if you want to lose weight, you should cut down on your dairy.

-Yeah.

It's one of those dietary myths, and obviously,

dairy foods can be high in fat, but it's about what kind you choose

and how much of them you eat,

so choose the lower-fat varieties and watch your portion size.

Sian suggested low-fat yoghurt has amazing properties

for weight loss, so I want to put this to the test.

All of our brides are to be weighed

and measured at the Cambridge Medical Research Centre.

-I'm holding in.

-Sit.

DOG WHIMPERS

They're going to be put on a 10-week 1,500-calorie-a-day diet.

Sian's going to give three of them three pots of yoghurt a day

as part of their diet.

The other two brides will be on the same diet,

but won't have the yoghurt.

So, how popular is yoghurt?

Well, it turns out we are completely potty about it.

Yoghurt is such a supermarket favourite

sales of it have rocketed by 25% over the last five years.

Last year, we stocked 2.8 billion tubs of the stuff.

As well as being popular, Sian tells me

yoghurt is packed full of protein and vitamins.

It's got B2, which is good for our skin,

and B12, good for our red blood cells.

These should all be eating the same number of calories a day.

But will our brides on the yoghurt diet lose more weight than

the ones who aren't eating yoghurt? Will any of them last the course?

A few weeks in and some of them are finding the diet pretty hard going.

I am very, very, very hungry. Having a very bad day.

Need to go to training, but I can't be bothered,

because I'm cold and hungry.

I struggled a little bit.

I'm all right until it comes to teatime

and then I look at my selection of meals,

and they're not really what I want to eat,

so I've found that quite hard.

I had a two-mile walk, felt really great,

then I ate a massive cake and some biscuits.

It's the end of the diet,

and our brides-to-be are meeting at this stately home

in Cambridge to get a taste of their wedding day.

So, it's been 10 weeks

since I set the brides off on their special diet mission.

I can't wait to see how they've got on.

ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYS

But after ten weeks, have any of our lovely ladies lost weight?

Unfortunately, Karen and Gemma couldn't finish the diet.

From our remaining brides, Teresa has lost 13lb,

Debbie has lost almost 11,

and Penny has lost 9½.

Penny and Debbie were both a similar weight

when they started the diet,

but Penny was on a low-calorie diet without yoghurt, whereas Debbie

had three pots of low-fat yoghurt added to her diet every day.

Although our results are inconclusive,

the evidence for how yoghurt can help weight loss is not.

Time for Sian, the yogi of yoghurt.

So, Debbie and Penny lost really similar amounts of weight,

but Debbie was on the yoghurt diet. Did that make a difference?

It did, actually.

When we looked at the scans, it showed that Debbie had

actually lost a higher percentage of her body fat than Penny.

Penny lost 1.6%

and Debbie lost 2.9%.

So, Debbie lost more fat from her body.

Is that anything to do with the yoghurt?

Well, it certainly backs up what the research shows -

that as part of their calorie-controlled diet,

low-fat dairy can help you lose weight.

So, dairy doesn't have to spell doom for your diet.

In fact, scientific evidence suggests,

as part of a calorie-controlled diet,

low-fat yoghurt can actually help you get rid of your fat.

So how does it work?

The wonder ingredient in yoghurt is calcium.

It lowers levels of hormones in the body that normally store fat,

which helps you lose fat.

Calcium also binds to some of the digestive fat in your gut,

which prevents it from being absorbed by your body.

Dairy calcium is also present in milk and cheese.

Just make sure you choose low-fat varieties.

So if you want something that helps with weight loss and gives you

loads of health benefits too, don't ditch the dairy.

Try adding a low-fat yoghurt.

Not only will your bones thank you, but you may shed a few pounds too.

I set out to find the secret powers hidden in our favourite foods,

and with your help, I've discovered that our supermarket staples

can do things for us we'd never imagined.

I love that I now know how to outwit the lure of the biscuit,

and that the chicken sandwich can keep us going till teatime.

It's good to learn nuts don't necessarily make you fat,

and I'm especially surprised that ordinary yoghurt can have

fantastic fat-shrinking powers.

This is the stuff we take for granted,

so it's good to know our favourite foods can still surprise us.

Next time on Britain's Favourite Supermarket Foods,

I'm looking at how our favourite foods can help us stay healthy.

'I unlock the secret protective powers hidden deep within a block of cheese...'

-Look at that!

-Oh, wow!

-That is amazing, isn't it?

'..discover whether my morning cuppa can turn me into a sporting champion...'

It's getting sweaty.

'..and reveal the magic food that could get

'every kid concentrating in just four hours.'

That's a massive difference.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd