A study, recently published by researchers at Tel Aviv University, found that eating a big breakfast of 700 calories promotes weight loss and reduces risks for diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol; showing that the time of day we eat has a significant impact on how our bodies process food.
To study how this timing affects our bodies, the team put 93 obese women into two different groups; a “big breakfast group” who consumed 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 200 at dinner, and a “big dinner group” who consumed 200 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 700 at dinner.
The women in the big breakfast group lost on average, 17lbs and 3 inches from their waist, whereas the women in the big dinner group, on the other hand only lost 7lbs and 1.4 inches from their waist. Additionally, the women from the big breakfast group had larger decreases in insulin, glucose and triglyceride levels than the women from the big dinner group.
The researchers noted that one of the most important findings is that the women from the big breakfast group did not experience high blood glucose level spikes that normally occur after a meal.
Although the big dinner group was eating a sensible diet and losing weight, those carrying out the research found that their triglycerides (a type of fat found in the body) increased, putting them at a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and cholesterol.
The British Heart Foundation notes that the study, stresses how important the timing of our meals can be for our health, but cautions that the sample was small and only involved women and that more research is required.
This is an interesting development. By way of my own suggestions, you could try wholegrain toast or breakfast cereals with low-fat milk or a bowl of porridge; for a cooked breakfast, make it a treat rather than the norm and try poached eggs instead of fried, and grill your bacon, eggs and sausages.
This study really is fascinating but lends credence to the old saying about eating breakfast like a king and dining like a pauper.
It makes sense as we are active during the day so we need a full tank of fuel to start with, but on an evening we do tend to be more sedentary so naturally wouldn't need so many calories.
This sort of approach suits me too as I do enjoy a good breakfast; but I am also aware of the need to eat healthily too so its whole grains and meat free bacon for me!
Thanks, yes ditto on your thoughts. I agree.
I've always believed that a big breakfast was better for you. It's my most important meal of the day.
We should eat like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch and a pauper for dinner. I learned this from a doctor I used to work for.
Ditto on your thoughts and I agree. Thanks Lisa.
I'm tried this out today - had a nice soya 'bacon' sandwich for breakfast with a mug of tea… just need to to work out what I can possibly make for lunch and dinner now!
Yes, it's a different thought process to follow, but I believe in the longer term it will work and makes complete sense as long as we're having the right calorie intake. That's probably what we need to work on.
The main meal of the day has to be when we're most active and I agree with that. We tend to pile on the pounds when we're more sedentary, which is usually towards the end of the day, so this theory makes a lot of sense.
Okay, so here's how it worked out. A decent breakfast as said; salmon salad for lunch and a small bowl of pasta for dinner.
There is no way we can keep to the 700, 500, 200 calorie bit and to be honest though, it's way too low as the daily intake in any case; but I do agree with the principles that meals should be smaller during the day to reflect out activity levels.
Thank you for coming back to let us know. I agree... thanks.