A study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism, has shown how the physical structure of food plays a key role in how we digest it, contributing to the way modern diets can adversely affect health.
Researchers from the Quadram Institute in Norwich and Imperial College London showed that foods made with chickpea flour prepared in a way to keep the plant cells intact trigger a much healthier metabolic response during digestion than nutritionally identical foods made with conventional milled flour.
Professor Gary Frost, Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics at Imperial College London, said: “Changing food structures could ultimately help to protect the population from chronic diseases such as type two diabetes, and that’s why this research is so exciting. It’s all building up the knowledge in this area which will be essential for improving foods in the future.”
