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Study Finds Women who Eat Big Breakfasts lose more Weight

Breakfasting like a ‘queen’ could hold the key to the battle of the bulge.

Research shows that women who eat well first thing in the morning lose more weight in the long-run than those who start the day with a smaller meal.

Those who wolf down a hearty breakfast packed with protein and carbohydrates are also less likely to pile the pounds back on.

The key to keeping trim is to eat well in the morning and then watch the carbs and calories during the rest of the day, the researchers told a US conference.

It is thought that eating a big breakfast helps cut cravings for cakes, chocolate, pizza and other sweet or starchy foods, as well as boosting metabolism.

Researchers from the Hospital de Clinicas in Caracas, Venezuela, looked at how breakfasting habits affected the weight of almost 100 obese young women.

All were put on a low calorie, low carbohydrate diet. However, half had a big breakfast, taking in almost half of their day’s ration of 1,240 calories in a single high protein, high carbohydrate meal.

Halfway through the eight-month study, the women eating small breakfasts had lost an average of two stone – around five pounds more than the the ‘big breakfast’ dieters.

But their lead was not to last – after eight months, the small breakfasters had regained an average of 18 pounds.

In contrast, the big breakfasters continued to lose weight, shedding another 16.5 pounds on average. At the end of the study those eating big breakfasts had lost more than 21 per of their body weight compared with just 4.5 per cent for the other women, the Endocrine Society’s annual conference in San Francisco heard.

Women on the ‘big breakfast’ diet reported feeling less hungry, especially before lunch, and having fewer cravings for carbohydrates.

Researcher Dr Daniela Jakubowicz, who has been recommending diets based around a big breakfast to her patients for more than 15 years, said most low carbohydrate diets fail because they a fail to curb cravings for calorie-rich foods.

‘Most weight loss studies have determined that a very low carbohydrate diet is not a good method to reduce weight,’ she said.

‘It 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.’

The study is far from the first to make a link between breakfasting habits and weight.

Earlier this year, a study of thousands of British men and women found that those who ate the biggest breakfast put on the least amount of weight over a five year period – even though they ate the most food over the course of a day.

They concluded skipping breakfast starves the body of nutrients and prompts it to store more lunches and dinners as fat.

It is thought consuming up to half of a day’s calories at breakfast gives the body time to digest food more efficiently.

Other research has shown that breakfasting on eggs can help in the battle against the bulge.

Those who start their day with poached, scrambled or boiled eggs can lose up to two-thirds more weight than those who breakfast on carbohydrate-laden bagels.

The secret of the egg’s success lies in its ability to make us feel full for longer than many other foods.