14 DAY TRIAL // People who take the time to eat a big breakfast on a daily basis are both healthier and slimmer than those who do not, scientists at the Tel Aviv University argue.
They say that, according to their research into the matter at hand, those who have most of their daily caloric intake at breakfast experience a sudden and noteworthy drop in their ghrelin levels.
As explained on Daily Mail, ghrelin is a hormone known to stimulate appetite.
Therefore, those who have less of it in their systems do not feel like snacking all throughout the day and have a significantly easier time controlling their cravings.
To test their theory that eating breakfast not only promotes weight loss, but also prevents diabetes and high blood pressure, the scientists asked for the help of 93 volunteers.
The volunteers were obese women, and were all asked to consume no more and no less than 1,400 calories per day for a period of time of three months.
They were split into two groups, meaning that some consumed most of these calories at breakfast, while others consumed them at dinner.
At the end of this three-month-long diet, the scientists analyzed and compared the health records of the women who had agreed to take part in this research.
By the looks of it, those belonging to the first category (i.e. the ones who ate a big breakfast on a daily basis) had lost about 17.8 pounds (8 kilograms). Their overall health condition had also improved.
Those belonging to the second group, on the other hand, had only lost roughly 7.3 pounds (3.3 kilograms). Oddly enough, despite their losing weight, these women were found to have accumulated a tad more fat in their bodies.
“Eating the right foods at the wrong times can not only slow down weight loss, it can also be harmful. Our study found those in the big dinner group actually increased fat levels in their body, despite their weight loss,” Professor Daniela Jakubowicz explains.
“Mindless eating in front of the computer or television, especially in the late evening hours, is a huge contributor to the obesity epidemic. It increases not only poundage, but the risk of cardiovascular disease - making that midnight sugar rush more costly than it appears,” she adds.
A detailed account of this investigation and its findings have recently been published in the journal Obesity.