A team of researchers analyzed the daily diet of a group of patients, to come to the conclusion that a large meal for breakfast or dinner does not affect the way we metabolize calories
How many times have we heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well, a recent study published in Cell Metabolism overturned the belief that consuming the majority of your daily calories in the morning optimizes weight loss.
On the contrary, however, for the researchers it would seem that eating a larger meal at the beginning or end of the day does not affect the way in which our body metabolizes calories.
Read also: Don’t dine too late! Here’s what happens to your body (and your metabolism) when you eat after this hour
I study
The researchers came to this conclusion by analyzing 16 healthy men and 14 women in overweight or obese. A somewhat small sample, but which nonetheless provides interesting data.
Participants were randomly asked to follow a diet for 4 weeks, characterized by a more substantial breakfast or dinner. The diet consisted of 30% protein, 35% carbohydrates and 35% fat.
After a one-week break with calories balanced throughout the day, each subject followed the opposite diet for 4 weeks.
Control analysis and metabolism measurement showed that subjects lost an average of just over 3 kg during each of the 4-week periods.
However, participants reported that on days when breakfast was higher, they felt less hungry during the day, which obviously may help weight loss because it leads to eating less and therefore taking fewer calories a day.
This study has limitations as the duration was short and the sample of people involved was also small and, consequently, limited; but at the same time it suggests two important aspects to remember every day:
- do not skip breakfast, but have it balanced and easily digestible
- it is not true that breakfast is the most important meal of the daysince the energy consumption is no different from the evening one.
From this it follows that it is better to have a lighter dinner, not only to go to sleep not too full but also because towards the evening the body is more resistant to insulin.
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Source: Cell Metabolism
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