Who doesn’t love a nice big breakfast? The list of delicious options seems endless. Most of us practically salivate over the thought of a freshly cooked breakfast sampler… you know, the one with eggs, hash browns, toast, your choice of sausage, bacon and ham or Tofu strips. Oh, and let’s not forget the two pancakes as a side.
Like many of you have probably heard, eating a big breakfast is a good start to a healthy day, but it appears a lot of people actually believe that if you eat a big breakfast, you will actually lose weight by not eating more the rest of the day.
To find out if that was true, a study in Germany published in Nutrition Journal followed 380 people, two-thirds of whom were obese and one third who were not. They analyzed those who ate large breakfasts, those who ate small breakfasts and some that skipped breakfast entirely. They then found out how many calories the participants had lost or gained. Pretty straightforward.
The researchers found that people who ate a big breakfast actually consumed more calories throughout the day compared to those who ate less or skipped eating breakfast at all. At the end of a week, this translated to one half to almost a pound of weight gain!
While people who eat breakfast may have healthier diets and may be less likely to be overweight overall, compared to people who skip breakfast, eating smaller meals, at all times of the day, clearly translates to consuming fewer calories in the day and being more likely to lose weight. If you eat a big breakfast, keep in mind you have to lessen your calories the rest of the day.