It’s not so much what you eat, as it is when you eat. New research has revealed what you should do every morning if you want to lose weight and better manage your blood sugar and diabetes risks.
In the spring of 2018, the Endocrine Society released brand-new research at its 100th annual meeting, and the results will delight anyone who loves a big, hearty breakfast.
While many people on a diet break their meals up into smaller servings distributed throughout the day, this new study blows that myth out of the water. Instead of your typical diet approach, researchers had participants eat a very big, high-energy breakfast, followed by an average-sized lunch and a small dinner.
Compared to a typical small meals approach, the benefits were clear:
- Faster, better weight loss
- Less hunger throughout the day
- Improved control of blood sugar, insulin and diabetes risks
Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, M.D., professor of medicine at Tel Aviv University, was the lead study author in this new report released by the Endocrine Society. “The hour of the day—when you eat and how frequently you eat—is more important than what you eat and how many calories you eat,” says Jakubowicz.
That’s because how your body processes food and burns calories shifts and changes as the day goes on. The Endocrine Society notes that if you eat bread in the morning, your body has a different response to it than if you ate the same bread at night during dinner.
“It is less fattening,” notes Jakubowicz.
Ideas for a Healthy, High-Energy Breakfast
Breakfast lovers unite! If you want to try this new research for yourself, keep the following tips in mind:
1. Stay hydrated. You just woke up, and you haven’t had any fluids for several hours. Drink water or tea to flush your system and start your internal engines.
2. Eat whole grains, not refined grains. Whether it’s cereal or bread or a bagel, whole grains give you more weight loss-boosting fiber, and also more nutrients. The study’s authors may have used bread as an analogy, but not all bread is created equal!
3. Add a lean protein. Harvard Medical School recommends Greek yogurt, eggs or nuts, and suggests you avoid processed meats like bacon.
