Is wheat porridge good for weight loss?

General rules

The porridge diet is a fairly frequently used version of dietary carbohydrate programs aimed at correcting body weight, allowing one to achieve results at little financial cost and in a relatively short time.
Among the cereals used in diets of this type, wheat porridge is also found. Unlike most mono-diets based on porridges, an expanded wheat diet for weight loss is more preferable, which does not limit the diet only to porridge and allows the consumption of small quantities of low-fat fermented milk products (kefir), cottage cheese, vegetable broth soups, vegetable oils, fresh/boiled vegetables (except potatoes), fruits (except grapes and bananas). The mono-diet on wheat porridge proposed by a number of authors, according to most nutritionists, is a strong stress for the body, contains a high risk of developing metabolic acidosis and can negatively affect health, which is due to an extremely unbalanced diet with a pronounced deficiency in protein and fat. Therefore, introducing into the diet a small amount of foods containing a protein component and vegetable fats is a more optimal diet option.

Containing a large amount of fiber requires consuming a sufficient amount of free fluid (at least 2.0 l/day), otherwise constipation . As a liquid, you can use green/herbal tea without sugar, filtered/table mineral water without gas, rosehip infusion, freshly squeezed vegetable juices. It is also recommended to take a complex of vitamins and mineral supplements during the diet. During the diet, it is not recommended to consume fatty, spicy, salty, sweet and spicy foods, and sweet carbonated drinks.

Wheat porridge is the result of processing wheat grains, during which the grain is freed from the germ, shells and subjected to grinding. It has a yellow-gray color. The best option is cereal made from hard grain wheat and coarse grinding. Depending on the degree of grinding there are:

• “Poltava” cereal No. 1 is a coarsely crushed cereal with the presence of fiber, which allows you to prepare the most healthy and tasty porridge, No. 2 and 3 are finer crushed.
• Artek groats are finely ground wheat grains, freed from the shells and the germ.

Cereals contain predominantly complex carbohydrates (70.8 g), few vegetable proteins (11.8 g) and a small amount of fat (1.3 g) per 100 g of product, as well as various vitamins ( B1 , B6 , E , PP , K , beta-carotene ) and macro/microelements (magnesium, cobalt, phosphorus, manganese, molybdenum, copper).

The energy value of wheat cereal is 316 kcal/100 g of product. The beneficial properties are also determined by the fiber content, which helps reduce cholesterol and overall cleanse the body. In addition, eating wheat porridge causes a quick and long-lasting feeling of satiety with a small amount of product, and a lot of energy is spent on its absorption, which is valuable for people who want to lose weight. In addition, the breakdown of complex carbohydrates occurs slowly and does not cause a sharp increase in blood sugar levels. Therefore, wheat cereal can also be consumed by persons with metabolic disorders (in particular, diabetes mellitus / insulin resistance ).

Porridge is prepared in water without salt, butter, spices and sugar in a ratio of 1 part cereal to 2 parts water. You can use garden herbs and cold-pressed vegetable oils as an additive to the porridge. The porridge can be steamed, in a slow cooker or oven. You can soak it overnight and get a full breakfast in the morning. To do this, wash the wheat grain thoroughly, add boiled water, wrap it and leave it to steep overnight. Eating wheat porridge during the diet is allowed without restrictions - it must be present in each of the main meals and make up the majority of it. The duration of the diet is 7-10 days.

A few words about the wheat germ diet. Rather, we should talk about the use of sprouted wheat as a food additive to the diet. Wheat sprouts or juice from wheat sprouts can be used for this purpose. The daily intake of sprouts should increase gradually, starting from 1-2 teaspoons per day, it is necessary to increase the daily portion to 60 g. The sprouts must be thoroughly chewed or pureed using a blender. The daily intake of juice is 30 ml. Sprouts and juice should not be subjected to heat treatment, but are recommended to be consumed with kefir or other food products.

To increase the effectiveness of the dietary program, you should carry out preliminary preparation of the body 1-2 days before it begins, excluding fatty, salty, smoked, pickled, fried foods, sweets, alcohol and carbonated drinks from the diet, expanding the diet to include fermented milk products, fish, poultry meat, vegetables and fruits. It is useful to reduce the size of portions and reduce salt intake. The wheat diet is not suitable for people prone to allergic reactions and especially those with individual gluten .

At the end of the diet, it is recommended to follow some rules:

• Expand your diet gradually, starting with medium-fat dairy products, fish, seafood, boiled chicken eggs, low-fat cheeses and lean meats. Add fatty, fried, smoked foods, sauces, spices and seasonings, and semi-finished products last.
• Do not overeat, eat 4-5 times a day in small portions, drink enough free fluid.

How to diversify your diet while on a wheat porridge diet for weight loss?

An effective wheat diet does not have to consist only of cereals. This is acceptable for 1-2 days, but then stomach problems will begin. To make it more varied and not boring, you can add the following foods to your diet:

• zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables except potatoes;
• apples, citrus fruits, peaches, berries, but not melon, bananas and grapes;
• kefir, fermented baked milk, natural yoghurts without additives or dyes;
• chicken breast, lean beef, rabbit;
• low-fat cottage cheese;
• a small amount of natural olive oil.

You need to choose foods with a small amount of calories and cook them properly. An abundance of salt, sugar and hot spices will lead to swelling and increased appetite. Salt is kept to a minimum, or replaced with aromatic dried herbs so that the food does not seem bland. It is advisable to completely avoid sugar or use high-quality sweeteners.

Instead of cereals, you can eat wheat bran, filling them with kefir. This is considered more beneficial for weight loss and bowel function.

It is not recommended to add fatty meat and milk, fried foods, fast food with a lot of flavor enhancers, baked goods, and carbonated drinks to the menu. You also need to exclude alcohol, strong coffee, potatoes, store-bought sauces and packaged juices.

Smoked and spicy foods irritate the stomach and increase appetite. You should also not eat pickles or pickles. The abundance of salt retains water, leading to swelling. You can drink fresh juices, but preferably apple, citrus and cherry ones. Cucumber juice is also beneficial.

Nuts and dried fruits are considered healthy, but they are high in fat and calories, so you should not abuse these products. You can eat a few nuts or prunes to avoid higher calorie foods. Sunflower seeds should be excluded even as a snack.

Authorized Products

The wheat porridge diet includes the following in the diet:

• The basis of the diet is wheat porridge, cooked in water without salt, spices or butter. The taste of porridge can be adjusted by adding aromatic garden herbs (dill, parsley, basil, celery, mint) and virgin vegetable oils.
• Soups made with vegetable broth with the addition of wheat and herbs.
• Any non-starchy vegetables (cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage, peppers, zucchini, onions) and sour fruits, wheat sprouts.
• Low-fat fermented milk products and drinks (yogurt, kefir), low-fat cottage cheese, pickled cheeses.
• Freshly prepared vegetable and fruit juices, green and herbal tea without sugar, rosehip infusion, wheat sprout juice, still mineral water.

Table of permitted products

Wheat diet for weight loss

The wheat diet menu is simple. You need to cook a glass of cereal, and this is the basis of your diet for the day. You cannot add salt or add sugar, honey or dried fruits. You can cut an apple into porridge, or, for example, eat it with cucumber or parsley. And of course, drink a glass of kefir at night, where would you be without it?

In order not to be unfounded, let’s calculate the daily caloric intake of such a diet:

• a glass of wheat porridge for cooking is 610 kcal, 4.4 g of fat, 22 g of protein, and about 118 g of carbohydrates;
• a glass of kefir - about 6 g of protein, 6 g of carbohydrates, 0.1 g of fat, and 62 kcal, if the glass is thin and the kefir is low-fat;
• 200 g of apples or one medium fruit is 84 kcal, from 20 g of carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat;
• 400 g of green vegetables (let's take broccoli as the most nutritious) - about 11 g of protein, 20 g of carbohydrates and a small amount of fat, 110 kcal;
• 866 kcal, 59 g protein, 164 g carbohydrates and about 5-6 g fat.

Health organizations consider this diet to be balanced in protein, but for physically active adults it is not. It turns out that a person weighing 59 kg or less can safely lose weight on a diet. How many of these people actually need a crash diet? What about 6g of fat, of which 0g is PUFA? And 866 kcal, which does not even reach the minimum standard for diets for obese people?

In general, in reality, if this diet is suitable for anything, it is only for fasting days. And even then, if they are not organized too often, and are carried out against the background of a reduced-calorie diet.

Fully or partially limited products

The wheat porridge diet is completely excluded from the diet:

• Animal and poultry meat, sausages, fast food products, semi-finished meat/fish products, fish and seafood, smoked meats, canned meat and fish.
• Animal and cooking fats and products based on them (mayonnaise, margarine, vegetable fat spread).
• Bakery products, cookies, crackers, waffles, gingerbreads, pies, dumplings, dumplings, pancakes.
• Sweets (sugar, cakes, pastries, chocolate, candies, honey, jam).
• Fatty dairy and fermented milk products and drinks, cheeses, butter.
• Porridge (except wheat), pasta, white rice.
• Pickles, marinades and canned foods, spices, seasonings, ketchups and sauces.
• Nuts, seeds, dried fruits, beekeeping products.
• Starchy vegetables (jerusalem artichoke, corn, potatoes, rutabaga, pumpkin, squash, celery root, horseradish, parsley), legumes.
• Sweet carbonated drinks, alcohol, packaged juices, coffee.

Table of prohibited products

Advantages and disadvantages

Wheat porridge diet: reviews and results

Reviews of the wheat porridge diet and the results among people who practiced this diet vary significantly. In most cases, they speak favorably about it, but some say that the porridge diet for weight loss is not the best option. Weight loss results of 2 to 4 kg in 7-10 days.

• “... Since I can’t stick to diets where vegetables predominate in the diet, I was pleased to read this one. But to avoid constipation, and for greater benefit, I also included wheat bran - I ate a tablespoon 3 times a day. I added it either to porridge or kefir, sometimes to vegetable salad. They swelled well and the result was thick and satisfying kefir, and after the vegetable salad I didn’t feel hungry so quickly. I didn’t eat after 7 pm and drank a lot of water. There were days when I didn’t really want to eat, and I didn’t even eat porridge, but made do with only vegetables and kefir with bran. The wheat diet suited me and even liked it. I didn’t have constipation, heartburn (for example, like after millet porridge) and I felt full for 3-4 hours. My results were pleasing - minus 2.5 kg per week with a normal diet.”
• “... At one time I was on a buckwheat diet, but since I don’t really like it because of the specific smell of buckwheat, I decided to choose a porridge that was neutral in taste, which can be combined with all vegetables. As expected, I ate 150 g-200 g of this porridge at my main meals - it turned out that it prevailed in the diet. The vegetables were different: raw, stewed or baked in a slow cooker. Everything was good, but I clearly lacked satisfying protein foods, so I included a soft-boiled egg or a steamed omelet. My intestines were functioning normally as I drank a lot of water, green tea and herbal infusions. I managed to lose 3 kg - I didn’t even expect such a result. Overall, I’m happy with the diet, and also with the fact that it’s convenient to take lunch with me to work: I took porridge with vegetable stew, and then heated it up.”

Diet based on healthy wheat porridge: sample menu

Wheat cereals can be prepared in different ways for weight loss. Most often it is eaten for breakfast. However, experts say that you cannot eat the same cereal for a long time, it will clog the gastrointestinal tract. 3–5 days of such nutrition are enough, then you need to expand your diet, periodically consuming wheat.

It is not at all necessary to eat only cereals and water all day long. You can add low-calorie dietary foods rich in fiber and vitamins. A sample menu might look like this:

• breakfast - porridge with low-fat milk with pieces of fruit;
• snack - fruit or a glass of fermented milk drink;
• lunch - chicken breast and vegetable soup for the first course, a couple of spoons of porridge for the second;
• afternoon snack - a glass of yogurt or fruit salad;
• dinner - wheat and a glass of yogurt.

Due to the rather high calorie content, doubts arise whether wheat porridge is useful for losing weight. Cereals are quickly digested and easily absorbed, so if consumed correctly they will only be beneficial.

On the Internet you can find many dietary recipes, for example, with the addition of apple and cinnamon, zucchini stuffed with wheat, salad with fresh vegetables and wheat. The simplest recipe is wheat boiled in water without salt and sugar. The taste of such a dish quickly becomes boring, so it is supplemented with herbs and fruits.

You should not eat only cereals for a long time, this can be harmful to your health. In this way, you can only arrange fasting days. For example, boil wheat and divide it into 4 portions. Eat only it for 24 hours, drink green tea, still water.

If the diet is designed for 3-5 days, then the diet needs to be supplemented with other products. Milk porridge or cereal side dishes are used as a basis, but other dietary foods are also eaten at the same time. It is enough to monitor the caloric content of food. You can consume 1000–1200 calories per day so that the body uses its own reserves and breaks down fat.