Study: Large breakfast, small lunch, dinner aids weight loss
Participants ate 50% of daily allowed calories at breakfast
People who consumed their largest, most caloric meal at breakfast were able to lose more weight than those who ate their largest meal later in the day, Nature World News reported.
In a study published in the journal Obesity, researchers studied 93 obese women assigned to one of two 12-week diet plans. The first eating plan required the women to consume 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 200 at dinner. The second plan reversed that order, requiring the women to eat 200 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 700 at dinner.
The types of foods in the 700 calorie meal were the same whether consumed at breakfast or dinner and included foods such as cake and cookies.
Overall, the women who consumed their largest meal at breakfast lost 17.8 pounds and 3 inches off their waistline, while the group that consumed their largest meal at dinner lost only 7.3 pounds on average and 1.4 inches off their waistlines.
Furthermore, women who ate large breakfasts had lower levels of the hunger-controlling hormone ghrelin, indicating that eating breakfast earlier helped them to feel more full and be less likely to snack later in the day.
Additionally, the women in the large breakfast group displayed significantly lower levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides. These factors can help lower the risk for obesity-related health issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.
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