Breakfast May Be the Key to Weight Loss

Author: Madeline Ellis

Breakfast has long been touted as "the most important meal of the day." Why? First of all, you need to refill your body with the energy that was used up while you slept and provide enough energy for your body to use to start the day and keep you functioning until lunch. Breakfast eaters have been shown to be more efficient at work and school and to show extra energy in sports and other physical activities. Findings of a new study not only support this traditional wisdom, but show that eating a big breakfast may also be the key in the effort to lose weight and keep it off.

For the study, Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor of medicine at the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and researchers from the Hospital de Clinicas in Caracas, Venezuela studied 94 obese, inactive women for eight months. The women were assigned to one of two diets; both were low in fat and total calories but differed in how the carbohydrates and calories were allocated. The first diet allowed 1,085 calories, based on 17 grams of carbs, 51 grams of protein and 78 grams of fat per day. Breakfast, the smallest meal of the day, contained 290 calories consisting of 7 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein. The second diet allowed 1,240 calories; 46 grams fat, 97 grams carbs, and 93 grams protein, but emphasized a large breakfast, which contained 610 calories, 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein and 22 grams of fat. Lunch was smaller, consisting of 395 calories; 34 carbs, 28 protein, 13 fat, and dinner was even smaller at 235 calories; 5 carbs, 18 protein, 26 fat.

After four months, those assigned to the low-carb diet had lost an average of 5 pounds more than those assigned to the ‘big-breakfast' diet. However, after eight months, the low-carb dieters had put back on an average of 18 of the pounds lost, while the big breakfast eaters continued to lose weight, 16.5 pounds on average. Overall, at the end of the study, the low-carb dieters lost 4.5 percent of their total body weight, compared with a more than 21 percent loss for those who focused on the larger breakfast. The women following the ‘big-breakfast' diet not only reported feeling less hungry, especially before lunch, but also said they had fewer cravings for carbohydrates.

Dr. Jakubowicz says the ‘big-breakfast' approach is a healthier way to lose weight as it allows people to eat more fruit, thus more fiber and vitamins. The diet also contains lots of proteins and carbs, which help cut cravings for sweets and starchy foods and boosts the metabolism. Dr. Jakubowicz said it appears that the body produces more hormones in the morning, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which are ready to convert protein to energy. More carbs and proteins in the morning give the body a greater sense of satiety.

The very low carb diets, which were all the rage 5 years ago, she said "exacerbates the craving for carbohydrates and slows metabolism. As a result, after a short period of weight loss, there is a quick return to obesity." She added that such diets do not address addictive eating impulses, which is perhaps why the low-carb study group gained weight because they were unable to stick to the regime.

A study earlier this year followed thousands of British men and women over a five-year period. Those who ate the biggest breakfast put on the least amount of weight, even though they tended to eat the most food over the course of their day. It was concluded that skipping breakfast starves the body of nutrients and prompts the storage of lunch and dinner as fat.

The study findings were presented at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 17.