Study breakfast is not the most important meal

Breakfast with weight loss apparently just a meal like any other

08/29/2014

„Breakfast is the most important meal of the day“ - so far was the opinion of many health and nutrition experts. But according to a new study, the positive effects of morning roll, fruit and quark on body and psyche are far less pronounced than previously thought. Instead, according to a research team from Alabama, there would be no difference to other meals.

So far, the rule was never without breakfast from the house
Without breakfast from the house? This has been considered by many health experts as a major nutritional error. The explanation sounds plausible: Since the body needs new energy from food for the day, the reserves used up overnight must be replenished. If this does not happen, sooner or later we will become hungry, making us particularly susceptible to unhealthy, sweet and greasy snacks. This view is also reflected in the vernacular, when it says, one should „Breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king and dinner like a beggar“ or „If the breakfast is bad, then the whole day fails“. But so far it has not been clear how important the first meal of the day actually is for health and performance.

US researchers are investigating the effect of breakfast on more than 300 subjects
But US researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham have now apparently gained new knowledge. According to the report, the positive effect of breakfast is far less pronounced than previously thought „The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition“. The scientists had a total of 309 subjects between the ages of 20 to 65 years, but focused on people who wanted to lose weight. The participants were assigned to different groups, each of which had different breakfast habits for four months: While some were to take a regular breakfast, others were not allowed to do it, and the third group was to continue their previous habits. The researchers came to an astonishing conclusion, because after 16 weeks, there were hardly any changes: „A total of 283 of the 309 randomly selected participants have completed the intervention. It was found that the assigned breakfast procedure had no significant effect on weight loss“, The research team reports to Emily Dhurandhar, assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and head of the study.

Breakfast not more valuable than other meals
As the „New York Times“ in her health and wellness blog „Well“ reported, researchers from the British University in Bath came to similar conclusions. They conducted a study of 33 volunteers, studying the effects of morning meal on resting metabolic rate, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar levels. Again, after six weeks with or without breakfast, the scientists were unable to detect any differences in the values. Based on the new findings, it can be assumed that breakfast within food science has so far been overestimated and, accordingly, it is not the most important meal of the day. Instead, be breakfast, according to Emily Dhurandhar, in case of a desired weight loss „just a meal like any other“. The studies have shown that skipping breakfast does not make people fat. „A recommendation to eat or skip breakfast may be effective in terms of changing one's eating habits as part of weight loss, but contrary to popular belief, this had no discernible effect on weight loss in adults trying to lose weight“, the researchers continue. (Sb)