Posted on 04/14/2020 11:09:13 AM PDT by nickcarraway
-People who eat a big breakfast burn twice as many calories compared with those who eat a larger dinner, according to a new study.
-Over the course of 3 days, researchers evaluated 16 men who alternated eating a low-calorie breakfast and a high-calorie dinner and vice versa.
-Eating a high-calorie breakfast was linked to lower hunger pangs and sweet cravings throughout the day. Breakfast has long been deemed the most important meal of the day.
What we eat and drink after waking up has been shown to have a big impact on our cognitive performance, mood, and energy levels throughout the day.
Now, new research from the Endocrine Society shows breakfast plays an even bigger role in our overall health than previously thought.
People who eat a big breakfast burn twice as many calories compared with those who eat a larger dinner, according to the new study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism on Wednesday.
They also experience fewer cravings, particularly for sweets, and have healthier blood sugar (glucose) and insulin levels throughout the day.
People’s metabolisms are more active after breakfast Over the course of 3 days, researchers evaluated 16 men who alternated eating a low-calorie breakfast and a high-calorie dinner and vice versa.
Then, the diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) — a measure of how well the body is metabolizing food — was tracked in the participants, as was overall hunger, blood glucose levels, and cravings for sweets.
The researchers discovered that, on average, the participants’ DIT was 2.5 times higher after breakfast versus after dinner, essentially showing that people’s metabolisms are more active after their morning meal.
Additionally, eating a high-calorie breakfast was linked to lower hunger pangs and sweet cravings throughout the day.
Compared with a richer breakfast, a low-calorie breakfast is more likely to cause snacking throughout the day. Plus, those who eat smaller breakfasts tend to eat larger meals at dinner, according to the researchers.
People’s insulin — a hormone that helps turn food into energy — and blood glucose, which is used for energy, were also lower after breakfast compared with after dinner.
The findings may have huge implications for people looking to lose weight, along with those with diabetes who have higher than normal blood glucose levels.
“Our results confirm that a large dinner has particularly negative effects on glucose tolerance, which should be considered by diabetic patients looking to avoid blood glucose peaks,” the researchers stated in the study.
“An extensive breakfast should therefore be preferred over large dinner meals to reduce the risk of metabolic diseases,” they added.
Our free assessment ranks the best diets for you based on your answers to 3 quick questions.
Skipping breakfast slows metabolism and causes cravings
According to the researchers, skimping out on breakfast is a common dieting practice tried by many hoping to lose weight.
But researchTrusted Source has shown that people who eat less for breakfast often snack more and overeat later in the day, derailing their weight loss goals.
Dr. Minisha Sood, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says she sees people skip breakfast time and time again in an effort to control their calorie intake.
“This goes against our normal circadian rhythms, and for some with a strong morning hunger signal, it can lead to overindulgence once the fast is ‘broken’ at the midday meal,” Sood told Healthline.
“It can also lead to overeating at dinnertime in part due to the psychology of ‘making up for lost calories,’ and this often backfires,” she added.
Our metabolism is greatly influenced by the circadian rhythm, or sleep-wake cycle.
Sood says people are more insulin sensitive in the morning, which essentially means their bodies need to produce less insulin to control blood glucose levels after eating.
“We are most efficient at metabolism in the morning hours and the most insulin sensitive in the earlier part of our ‘eating window,’ therefore it makes sense that our diet-induced thermogenesis [DIT] and overall metabolism would be more effective in the earlier part of the day,” Sood said.
On top of that, people are more physically active during the morning and day, and physical activity helps manage insulin and blood glucose levels.
Eat breakfast to fuel your day
Dr. John Magaña Morton, the division chief of Yale Medicine Bariatric & Minimally Invasive Surgery, recommends eating your bigger meals earlier in the day, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.
As the study shows, our metabolic rate slows down at night, making it more work for the body to digest food and burn it off for fuel.
Additionally, aim for a well-balanced breakfast — such as fruit, eggs, oatmeal, and yogurt — and avoid overly processed foods, like pastries and sugary cereals. Those get absorbed more quickly and can cause blood sugar levels to spike, Morton adds.
“One saying I believe in is that you should eat like a queen for breakfast, princess for lunch, and pauper for dinner,” Morton said.
The bottom line
New research has found that people who eat a big breakfast burn twice as many calories compared with those who eat a larger dinner.
They also have less hunger pangs and cravings, especially for sweets, throughout the day.
A big breakfast (compared to a bigger dinner) was also linked to lower insulin and blood glucose levels, implying that people with diabetes should prioritize breakfast over dinner.
“Over the course of 3 days ...”
My goodness, 3 whole days.
That’s a good English breakfast. IMO two additional eggs would help.
if one has to actually work, eating a huge breakfast is not a good thing....most people are tired after eating a big meal....breakfast is not an exception....
supposedly, the French live a long time because they have a regular breakfast before going out into the fields to work (This was back awhile ago)- then have a large lunch, head back out into the fields and work the rest of the day, and only a light dinner before retiring for the evening-
Despite having eaten fatty foods, loads of real butter, loads of snack cakes, and smoking like fiends, their lifespan and overall health was supposedly better than other nation’s peoples
I guess because they worked off their mid day calories and ate only lightly at night- when the calories owudl normally just lay around and to get burned off really
?
A also read awhioel back that their method of making cigarettes was ‘not as bad for you’ as other nation’s Cigarettes- dunno if that was true or not- supposedly the process made them less dangerous- chemically that is-
Unless you are eating a low carb regimen, breakfast just starts up the insulin/blood sugar roller-coaster for the day.
I used to buy into the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” propaganda, which is (shockingly!) promoted by companies that make breakfast foods. I love a big breakfast if my intent is to go back to bed and hibernate. That’s not usually an option.
Waiting for the intermittent fasters on FR to weigh in on this ...
I instinctively knew that for years. :)
Well, there are a lot of different paths for people to pursue. I imagine there are people who just eat breakfast, then fast the rest of the day.
Well, I started intermittent fasting a couple of months ago and have indeed lost 10 pounds.
I start eating at 1 pm (usually a small lunch of apple, egg, nuts, yogurt) and eat a second meal before 8 pm (meat, vegetables, bread or pasta only rarely but I do eat rice and potatoes). And a little chocolate and two glasses of wine. Kind of a Mediterranean diet.
I’ll eat a very late breakfast on the weekends sometimes.
And now in the pandemic since I can work from home now with more time and no commute I can easily walk an hour a day in my neighborhood, so I do that too.
The fried bread is missing.
Yuck, mushrooms. :-)
So you've stumbled upon something interesting. This was, in fact, true at least in the through the 1950s. Back then a doctor with a novel theory set out to prove it. His theory: dietary saturated fat led directly to heart disease. He studied 21 nations and found that many had diets with lots of fat yet low heart disease and others had that ate very little fat yet had lots of heart disease. He found a few (seven) that had high fat diets AND high heart disease so he wrote a final paper only including those seven and that "Seven Countries Study"formed the basis of all the "fat is bad for you" advice ever since.
When asked why in his final seven he omitted France and Switzerland with their high fat diets and low heart disease, he cavalierly dismissed it with a statement about how he didn't like to travel there (in spite of the fact that he had, and had the data from them and simply buried it). But he was already a media superstar considered something of a national hero because he had invented the K-rations in WW2 the press ran with his "findings" and never stopped.
Prominent doctors with an agenda regarding control of the public sector and widespread media support can do some real damage.
I have found that if it’s a high-protein breakfast, like 3-egg omelet, and smoked salmon/lox I think better and have more energy all morning.
High-carb breakfast makes me sluggish.
I remember a comment from an old boss, told me any HUGE meal diverts blood to digest, thus less to the brain. I never verified that.
yeah i remembered reading about this many many years ago- but it wasn’t about that doctor- but another doc that was trying to promote large meal during mid day instead of at night for health reasons- details are fuzzy now, but i think i got the jist of it right-
I remembered being fascinated by the article because I’ve only ever eaten just 2 meals a day, and not large meals- My bigger meal though is the evening meal- I should probably reverse that ritual at this stage of the game— but I’ve never snacked after dinners- (though i did drink pepsi like mad- 6-7 a day- still drink 2-)
The problem for me now is though that I’m not active anymore- so I’m not working off the calories during the day anymore- but i don’t eat a lot of crap either-
I think that’s more lifestyle than food. People who eat a big breakfast tend to be doing stuff, often hard physical stuff, first thing in the morning. I mostly don’t eat breakfast, and mostly do nothing interesting until late morning. When I am going to be hitting it hard in the morning, breakfast up.
I went from 235 lbs to 195 lbs on intermittent fasting and 1 hour of excercise 5 days per week over the course of 11 months. I skip breakfast, east 500 calories for lunch, and 1,400 calories for dinner.
I imagine if I ate 1,400 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and skipped dinner, I’d have the same results. For me it has been about total calorie intake and exercising rather than some magic associate with intermittent fasting. It’s just been the easiest way for me to keep my calorie intake under control.
Eat your breakfast at dinner. Problem solved.
“According to what research(ers)?” I don’t see any science presented. Most, if not all such articles encouraging people to eat “breakfast” foods, quote some other nutrition experts (as authorities) — but never any studies. It doesn’t matter if they’re an expert in San Diego, Atlanta, New Jersey, etc. What’s the study and where are the testimonials other than the trade association “experts” — who enable the explosive epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country and the world — by encouraging people to eat as much and as often as possible.
Meanwhile, you go to the Intermittent Fasting sites and there are many authentic testimonials who have reversed their diabetes and directly related health problems by deferring breakfast for as long as possible.
It’s based on the experience that it’s easier to continue not eating, than it is to stop once one has begun — and then to continue snacking all one’s waking hours until the next waking moments. The perfect prescription for diabetes — and apparently Covid-19 complications.
Meanwhile, the propagandists like to claim that all those testimonies by actual people are “anecdotal,” when they are in fact valid real world experiences. Meanwhile, most of these obese and overweight people have been convinced by such articles that they should “eat before they are hungry,” and “drink before they are thirsty,” because you can never trust your own senses over the advice from the “experts.”
Eat the ham. Please.
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