Dietitians and other health professionals have long stressed the
importance of breakfast. For many people
because of their busy lifestyles they find it difficult to follow these
recommendations. But what does the
science say, is early morning breakfast really better for your health? And what should this breakfast consist
of? It turns out if your goal is to reduce
hunger and manage body composition, you’ll be better off adding extra bacon to
your plate instead of a muffin.
In the study 57
adolescents (average age of 19) that were overweight/obese (average BMI was 29)
and normally skipped breakfasts did a 12 week study comparing the effects of a
normal-protein breakfast (np) to a high protein breakfast (hp) on appetite
control, food intake, and body composition.
There was also a third control group that skipped breakfast as
normal. The np and hp breakfast had the
same calorie content but the np breakfast had only 13 g of protein whereas the
hp breakfast had 35 g of protein. The
results of the study showed that hp breakfasts prevented mass gain, daily
caloric intake, and reduced daily hunger cravings. The np breakfasts and meal skipping groups
did not experience any of these effects.[1]
The take home
point to learn from this study is that if someone is concerned about weight
management or hunger control, they can benefit from consuming high protein
breakfasts. Protein rich breakfasts have
higher thermic effects than typical
carbohydrate rich breakfasts and provide more satiety which make
adherence to diets easier for most people.
Some quick easy high protein breakfast meals one can consume include
eggs, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese.
References
Leidy, H., Hoertel, H., Douglas, S., Higgins, K., & Shafer,
R. (n.d.). A high-protein breakfast prevents body fat gain, through reductions
in daily intake and hunger, in “Breakfast skipping” adolescents. Obesity.
Erick Avila, owner of www.ergogenichealth.com a company that
provides individualized training programs and nutritional consultations for
athletic events and weight loss. Erick works as a strength & conditioning
coach/nutritionist with a variety of professional boxers including two ranked
in the top 50 of their respective weight divisions. He’s experienced
having worked in both sport and clinical settings, with focuses ranging from
general weight loss to hormonal optimization. Erick has bachelors degrees
in Exercise Science & Nutritional Science.
