'Big Breakfast' Diet Helps Shed Pounds

Study Shows 600-Calorie Breakfasts Reduce Food Cravings Later in the Day

(WebMD)  Eating a 600-calorie breakfast rich in carbohydrates and protein helps dieters lose more weight long term than eating a modest breakfast and following a lower-carb eating plan, according to a new study.

Breakfast and weight loss have long been linked, but the new research zeroes in on how to help dieters stick with a plan and not regain the lost weight by adjusting the amount of carbohydrates, protein, and calories eaten early in the day.

"Those on the 'big breakfast diet' feel less hungry before lunch and all day," says Daniela Jakubowicz, MD, an endocrinologist in Caracas, Venezuela, and a clinical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, who led the study. She is presenting her findings this week at ENDO 08, the 90th annual meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Francisco.

Breakfast and Weight Loss

With colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University, Jakubowicz assigned 94 obese, physically inactive women, on average in their 30s, to two groups:

• The low-carb diet group of 46 women was allotted a daily total of 1,085 calories, and breakfast was the smallest meal.
  
  The women could have 290 calories at breakfast and only 7 grams of carbohydrates (a half slice of bread) and 12 grams of protein (such as two eggs). For the entire day, they could have 17 grams of carbs, 51 grams of protein, and 78 grams of fat.



• The big-breakfast group of 48 women got to eat 1,240 calories a day, and was asked to eat a breakfast of 610 calories. It was to include 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat.
  
  The women could eat the breakfast in two or three stages, from the time they got up until 9 a.m. For the entire day, they could have 97 grams of carbohydrates, 93 grams of protein, and 46 grams of fat.

Both groups stayed on the diet for four months to lose weight, and then shifted to maintenance mode for the last four months.

At the four-month mark, the dieters eating the modest breakfast dropped about 28 pounds, while those on the big breakfast plan lost 23 pounds.

The real differences showed up at the eight-month mark, when the low-carb dieters had regained an average of 18 pounds and the big-breakfast eaters continued to lose, dropping another 16.5 pounds on average.

In all, members of the big-breakfast group lost more than 21% of their body weight; low-carb group members lost 4.5%.

A bonus, says Jakubowicz, is that the big-breakfast dieters reported less hunger and fewer cravings for carbohydrates than the other group.

Big Breakfast Diet

Some of the study findings make perfect sense and are well known to nutrition experts, says Joan Salge Blake, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a professor of nutrition at Boston University, who reviewed the study for WebMD.

"We know women who don't eat breakfast are more likely to do impulsive, unplanned snacking," she says. "It's no big surprise that having breakfast and having protein is a good thing when it comes to weight loss."

"We know protein will have the biggest effect on the feeling of fullness," she says. "It's always important to have protein at each meal."

But she has some misgivings about both diets, contending that the daily calorie allotment and the carbohydrate intake was too low in both groups.

"One hundred thirty grams of carbohydrate are the minimum for our brain to keep working," she says, citing guidelines from the National Academy of Sciences.

To achieve weight loss, she advises eating breakfast every day, including protein at each meal, and also focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

While the participants in the study were all obese, Jakubowicz says she thinks the plan will work for those wth less weight to lose, too.

"I think this is the right way of eating, even if you are thin. I think it works for everybody and especially for obesity."

[skinnyminny2]

Different things work for different people. I like to have protein in the morning like tuna and vegetables (nowhere near 600 calories though-maybe 200)! I actually prefer-and perform better-feeling a little hungry. I hate feeling full, it''s very uncomfortable. Not hungry is good enough for me.

A ''big'' (gigantic as far as I''m concerned) breakfast would have me in the toilet all day because my stomach would rebel with a vengeance.

[spadeisspade]

This would never work for me; I, like some other posters, am absolutely famished around 2 hours after I eat breakfast. I actually thought that was the point, because then you''re sort of forced to eat another meal, which they keep saying is better than skipping meals and only eating once a day. When are people going to wake up and stop following these ridiculously complicated diets and realize that if you eat less, exercise more, it''s the 100% guaranteed way to lose weight?

[texanforlogi]

Extreme is not good. Moderation is always good. It includes religion and food.
Posted by jimjus

What are you going to pray to lose weight? I think you meant to say moderation includes EXERCISE and food. From reading these posts it appears diets don''''t work. People have their individual needs depending on metabolism and life styles. Try eating the amount of calories that you burn starting with larger meals during the day and smaller ones at night. Stay away from carbs and snacky foods at night too. Save those for throughout the workday.


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Posted by Displeased at 12:41 PM : Jun 18, 2008

I don''t think jimjus was speaking of praying to lose weight (although lots of prayer takes place just before folks step on the scale), I believe the comment meant that religion should be taken in moderation.
Jimjus, if I''ve misinterpreted you, please let me know.

[savdavid]

Pig out early and sit all day. Lose weight!

[displeased]

Oh, and one other thing in regards to eating the calories you burn. If you don''t exercise, don''t eat big meals. That seems to be the problem with today''s society. Huge portions and little movement.

[displeased]

Extreme is not good. Moderation is always good. It includes religion and food.
Posted by jimjus

What are you going to pray to lose weight? I think you meant to say moderation includes EXERCISE and food. From reading these posts it appears diets don''t work. People have their individual needs depending on metabolism and life styles. Try eating the amount of calories that you burn starting with larger meals during the day and smaller ones at night. Stay away from carbs and snacky foods at night too. Save those for throughout the workday.

[texanforlogi]

Every article I''''''''ve ever read, every diet I''''''''ve ever tried ALWAYS says to eat breakfast. Yet, every single time I eat breakfast I am literally hungry all day long. I eat healthy; only whole grains, no fried foods, very little if any red meat,etc. Is there anyone out there in the same situation?

Posted by Mydog498

That''''s me. Eat any breakfast at all and I''''m hungry by 10:00 AM. I think some people are designed to be 15 pounds over weight and I''''m one of them. I eat right, exercise daily and here I am looking at my slight bulge.
Good luck.


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Posted by mjvw2 at 09:02 AM : Jun 18, 2008


Let me chime in on this chorus too. I can''t eat until I''ve been up a couple of hours (otherwise the first bite is ok and the second won''t go down) and when I do eat breakfast I am starving from that point onward. I''ve had better luck with a great big latte in the morning (lots of milk) and then a good big lunch. Then all I want is a light dinner and I''m good to go. I actually managed to lose some weight while on vacation this way!

[talkingham]

Kris-urinal u r way off topic, go dream of Gore somewhere else please. Idiot.

[coppertales]

The phrase, "a moment across the lips, a lifetime on the hips, belly, etc", has a lot of truth to it. If you don''t feed the critter, it won''t grow so big. Lately, I have been eating my meals "backwards". I eat my fat food meal for breakfast, a reasonable lunch, and a bowl of cerial with a small dessert for supper. I now can pull my belt two notches tighter from doing this. My wife, on the other hand, believes, after 34 years of marriage, that each meal needs one each of everything on the food chart. I have been complaining forever that she cooks too much food....

[talkingham]

Eat real food, drop the poly unsaturated poison oils- this study says nothing about the why the other people regained their weight, probably because they went off their unrealistic contrived diet. Eat natural foods with natural fats,stay away from rancid veggie oils (almost all of them go rancid within hours of opening the bottle.)

Try reading a little from the other side of the argument about whole foods and whole fats on the Weston A. Price org web site. So much of the nutrition "news" we get is totally skewed by the edible oils food lobby.

[mswolfestock]

When I went into menopause, I couldn''t maintain my weight - I struggled to stay a size 8. But raging hormones would sometimes send me into what I called a Day-Long Snack Attack. Those little 100-calorie snack packs weren''t doing me any good because I''d eat two or three at a time! I finally came to my senses and quit buying snack and junk foods. I saved a ton of money and 5 pounds melted off of me in a month.

I also switched to low-fat or fat-free dairy products and fat-free coffee creamer - this helped me drop another couple of pounds, too.

Then finally I got through menopause, and I feel so much better without the raging hormones which were clouding my judgement and attitude. I''m now content to be a size 10, and I don''t look like I''m stuffed into my clothes any more.

EXERCISE: I spent a lot of money having my car painted, and I wanted to avoid any new scrapes and dings. I started parking at the farthest corner of my parking lot, always at the end of a row. It''s quite a walk through the parking lot, up a long flight of stairs up a hillside, then through the parking lot on top of the hill into the building where I work. This is the only way I know that your vehicle can help you lose weight without having to drive to the gym. I always park far away from the mall, too. Any "extra" walking you can do will really add up over time.

[marbru-2009]

I know the trend now is to eat 5-6 "small" meals a day; however, my dad ate 3 meals a day (whatever mom fixed); seldom snacked and stayed slim and trim for almost 90 years - his philosophy was the "push" diet (eat your meal and then push yourself away from the table). Definitely worked for him.

[jimjus]

Extreme is not good. Moderation is always good. It includes religion and food.

[mjvw2]

Every article I''''ve ever read, every diet I''''ve ever tried ALWAYS says to eat breakfast. Yet, every single time I eat breakfast I am literally hungry all day long. I eat healthy; only whole grains, no fried foods, very little if any red meat,etc. Is there anyone out there in the same situation?

Posted by Mydog498

That''s me. Eat any breakfast at all and I''m hungry by 10:00 AM. I think some people are designed to be 15 pounds over weight and I''m one of them. I eat right, exercise daily and here I am looking at my slight bulge.
Good luck.

[mydog498]

Every article I''ve ever read, every diet I''ve ever tried ALWAYS says to eat breakfast. Yet, every single time I eat breakfast I am literally hungry all day long. I eat healthy; only whole grains, no fried foods, very little if any red meat,etc. Is there anyone out there in the same situation?

[aggiekat2004]

Patriot12436...

Have you heard of the Sugar Busters diet? Sounded gimmicky to me, but after reading it I had a better understanding of the glycemic index and how a diabetic body handles sugar. It makes sense for non-diabetics, too. I know several people with ongoing problems with diabetes who started changing their diet and were able to basically reverse their diabetes problems and eliminate the need for insulin altogether.

You might also get a food scale and measure portion sizes. I had a problem with my weight a few years ago, and a trainer told me to get a scale and measure everything. I found that my portion sizes were way out of control.

My mom, on the other hand, is happy to treat them symptoms of diabetes with injections, yet consume amounts of sugar and hight GI foods.

Many people who get the surgery put the weight back on anyway. It may be a quick fix, but even if you don''t address eating habits, it may not work in the long run.

[aggiekat2004]

Maybe the baby diet is why all of these hollywood brats are getting pregnant!

[jwrhea]

Diets are for fools. Just eat less and do more.

[j_flood]

As the saying goes:
Breakfast like a king,
Lunch like a prince,
Dinner like a pauper.

Seems to be still true.

[oneworldusa]

I started eating breakfast when I was expecting. By the time the baby came, I had only gained a total of 6lbs and he was nearly 7lbs.

But after all the ''other baby stuff'' and fluid and whatnot had gone away, by the time he was 6 weeks old, I was 30lbs lighter than my pre-baby weight.

I call it the baby diet.