Wanna’ lose weight?
Posted on June 18th, 2008 – 8:15 AMBy Josephine Marcotty
Eat a big breakfast.
Well, maybe not that big.
Moving right along from coffee to what goes with it, we know (and our mothers knew) that it’s always important to eat breakfast. Researchers know that teenagers who eat breakfast are healthier and are less likely to become overweight.
Now research presented this week at a national medical conference has found that eating a substantive breakfast high in carbs and protein actually helps obese people not only lose weight, but keep it off long term.
Diets that restrict carbohydrates are notoriously short lived. They increase cravings for carbohydrates and slow metabolism. As a result, after a short period of weight loss, most people regain their lost weight quite quickly.
The scientists, who presented their study at the Endocrine Society Conference underway in San Francisco this week, put 94 obese, physically inactive women on two different diets. Both were low in fat and calories. Half of the women were on a very low carb diet, consisting of 1,085 calories per day and a breakfast of 290 calories — 7 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein.
The “big breakfast diet” consisted of 1,240 calories a day, but about half of those calories were consumed at breakfast — 58 grams of carbs and 47 of protein. They ate 395 calories for lunch and 235 calories for dinner. (Think of it as an upside down food pyramid.)
After four months, the women on the low-carb diet dropped an average of about 28 pounds, and the women on the big-breakfast diet lost nearly 23 pounds on average. But after 8 months, the low-carb dieters regained an average of 18 pounds, while the big-breakfast group continued to lose weight, shedding another 16.5 pounds on average. Women who ate a big breakfast reported feeling less hungry, especially before lunch, and having fewer cravings for carbs than did women in the other group.
Problem solved. Does this inspire you to change what you eat for breakfast?
One response to "Wanna’ lose weight?"
I’ve always eaten breakfast… I’m starving within an hour if I don’t. I eat cereal’s that are healthy, like Special K, Raisin Bran, etc.
I would NEVER do an anti-carb diet. To knock out one of the three main building blocks your body needs daily, would be ridiculous and unhealthy.
