Breakfast is very important in weight loss

Thorough breakfasting protects against obesity and disease

 In order to stay healthy and avoid obesity, it is not only important to be careful what you eat. Tel Aviv University researchers have now found that it's not just what you eat, but also when. The Israeli research teams findings have been published in "Obesity".

Daniela Jakubowicz and her fellow researchers examined 93 obese women, who were randomly assigned to one of two isocaloric groups. Each consumed a moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-fat diet totaling 1,400 calories daily for a period of 12 weeks. The first group consumed 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 200 at dinner. The second group ate a 200 calorie breakfast, 500 calorie lunch, and 700 calorie dinner. The 700 calorie breakfast and dinner included the same foods.

By the end of the study, participants in the "big breakfast" group had lost an average of 17.8 pounds each and three inches off their waistline, compared to a 7.3 pound and 1.4 inch loss for participants in the "big dinner" group. According to Jakubowicz, those in the big breakfast group were found to have significantly lower levels of the hunger-regulating hormone ghrelin, and also showed a more significant decrease in insulin, glucose, and triglyceride levels than those in the big dinner group. More important, they did not experience the high spikes in blood glucose levels that typically occur after a meal.