Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss

[Celebration]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061901659.html

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Starting your day with a large meal packed with both carbohydrates and lean protein, and even a small piece of chocolate, can help lessen cravings and hunger the rest of the day, which can lead to significant weight loss, new research suggests.

Presented at this week's Endocrine Society annual meeting, in San Francisco, the new research found that sedentary, obese women lost almost five times as much weight on the "big breakfast" diet as did women following a traditional, restrictive low-carbohydrate diet.

"We treat obese people by telling them to eat less and exercise more, but that does not take into account feelings of carb cravings and hunger. We have to change our approach and find a diet that can control cravings and hunger," said the study's lead author, Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an endocrinologist at the Hospital de Clinicas Caracas in Venezuela.


Jakubowicz explained that when you wake in the morning, your body is primed to look for food. Your metabolism is revved up, and levels of cortisol and adrenaline are at their highest. Your brain needs energy right away, and if you don't eat or you eat too little, the brain needs to find another fuel source. To do this, it activates an emergency system that pulls energy from muscle, destroying muscle tissue in the process. Then when you eat later, the body and brain are still in high-alert mode, so the body saves energy from the food as fat, she said.

[izquierdista]

1. Sumo wrestlers have known this

That's why they eat big late in the day when they want to add on the pounds.

[elocs]

4. I had always thought that too, but Sumo wrestlers notwithstanding, evidently that's a myth.

I saw a doctor on tv the other day addressing common medical myths (Oprah is a believer, though) and that was one of them. I just confirmed this for myself with a google search about either medical myths+late eating or weight gain+late eating.

As for myself, I could never get my day started without eating breakfast.

[patrice]

2. That's good news for me. Breakfast is the one meal of the day that I can get it

together well enough to do it right. Cooking and eating are ALWAYS the last thing on my agenda for the rest of the day.

Getting old is a bitch! So, all I really need to do is eat right in the morning, have light proteins and fruit/vegs at regular intervals later in the day, and walk more.

[havocmom]

3. Cool. Just had two poached eggs, 10 grain toast, pot of green tea

and now, I can have a little square of dark chocolate? How cool is THAT? :9

Wow, I feel svelte already

Seriously, have noticed, as I age, that days with a good breakfast go better than days without. Used to skip it altogether. Now, if I could just convert my 'not a morning person' husband....

[BeatleBoot]

5. Need to get the motor running early then coast the rest of the day.

I had a homemade bran muffin, Anjou Pear and some smoked Lake Michigan Whitefish on Triscuits for breakfast.

And I walked 3 miles last night and again this morning.

I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm doing it. I'll give myself an A for attitude anyways.

[Cassandra]

6. I have about 1/3 of my calories a day at breakfast

whole grain cereal, hot or cold, a pot of black tea, low fat milk, sometimes non fat yogurt, fruit and a tablespoon of peanut butter or an egg. I've lost 66 pounds, although I gained back 10 from too much snacking.

[mzmolly]

7. Fascinating.

Thanks for the info.

[monmouth]

8. No coffee?? I see a lot of tea drinkers. Maybe that's where I'm messing up...n/t

[supernova]

9. Coffee is a problem

because it, unlike tea, will give you a shot of cortisol (the fight-or-flight hormone) along with your caffeine. Cortisol, if you do not complete the cycle (fear ---> flight i.e. do something physical) will direct your body to store fat -- in the abdomen.

Tea, OTOH, does not have this and gives you the caffeine boost without the cortisol.

Too bad, because I love coffee! :P But I only try to drink it a couple of times a week.

[supernova]

10. Addendum

I totally missed my overall point this am. :P

If you are sensitive to the effects of cortisol, then the process I described happens. If you aren't then, it doesn't matter. You can be skinny and drink 5 or 6 cups of coffee a day and not suffer from it in the waistline.