- “Eating a breakfast of slow-burning carbohydrates like oats can significantly improve calorie-burn during exercise, according to a study at the University of Nottingham reported in 2009 in the Journal of Nutrition. When active people were given a breakfast of low-glycemic index foods 3 hours before embarking on a 60-minute run, the amount of fat they burned during exercise was 55 percent higher than when they ate a high-carb, high-glycemic breakfast.” The New Abs Diet: The 6-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life (The Abs Diet) (David Zinczenko and Ted Spiker). Paige 7