EATING SWEETS FOR BREAKFAST MAY PREVENT WEIGHT GAIN

If you like sweets for breakfast, hold on to your cinnabuns. New research published in the journal Steroids suggests eating a high-carbohydrate, protein breakfast may help prevent weight gain after dieting because it suppresses the hunger hormone grhelin and reduces cravings. The findings suggest enriched breakfast may be a key to maintaining weight loss and preventing weight regain over time.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University conducted a 32-week study of 193 middle-aged obese, sedentary non-diabetics who were randomly assigned to either a low-carbohydrate breakfast or an isocaloric diet with high carbohydrate and protein breakfast.

Fasting glucose, insulin, ghrelin, lipids, craving scores and breakfast meal challenge assessing hunger, satiety, insulin and ghrelin responses, were performed at baseline, 16 weeks and 32 weeks.

At week 16, both groups had lost an average of 33 pounds per person. At 32 weeks, those on the low-carb diet regained an average of 22 pounds; those on the high-carb protein diet lost an additional 15 pounds per person.

Ghrelin levels were reduced after breakfast by 45.2% on the high-carb protein diet versus 29.5% for those on the low-carb diet. Satiety was significantly improved and hunger and craving scores significantly reduced in the high-carb protein diet group versus the low-carb diet group.