Rah-Rah Raisins!

According to new research revealed at the Canadian Nutrition Society?s annual meeting, raisins may increase satiety and prevent excessive calorie intake.The study, which was funded by the California Raisin Marketing Board, took three months to explore the snacking habits of 26 children between the ages of 8 and 11. All of the children were at a normal weight and were randomly assigned to snack either on raisins or another kind of food after school. During the days in which satiety was tested, all children ate the same breakfast, morning snack, and lunch. The researchers measured satiety 15 minutes before and after snack consumption and found that raisins were the most effective at reducing calorie intake while still promoting satiety.Dr. G. Harvey Anderson, lead researcher on the study, explained, ?We found consumption of raisins as a snack prevented excessive calorie intake, increased the feeling of fullness, and thereby may help contribute to the maintenance of a healthy weight in school-age children.?In fact, when the children ate raisins as their snack, they consumed far fewer calories than they did with other after-school snacks like chocolate chip cookies, grapes, or potato chips. Kids who ate the cookies had a 108% higher calorie intake than those who ate raisins, while the children who had grapes had a 56% higher calorie intake. Those who had potato chips consumed 70% more calories than the kids who ate raisins.Another intriguing result of this study was that the kids who ate raisins as an after-school snack actually consumed fewer overall calories the next day. During the course of that day, the kids who had raisins had a cumulative calorie intake that was 10-19% lower than that of the other children.