Go Big for Breakfast

More calorie burn with 1st meal

Whether you’re practicing intermittent fasting or are in the habit of eating breakfast within an hour or two of waking up, we have big news for you! The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has published a piece suggesting that twice as many calories are burned after a large breakfast when compared to a similar size dinner.

Researchers enrolled sixteen men in a randomized study where they consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner one day and then a high-calorie breakfast and a low-calorie dinner another day. Calorie burn was measured using indirect calorimetry, which is considered the gold standard and a very accurate way to measure. Interestingly, they found that participants burned 2.5 times as many calories in the morning as they did in the evening. Blood sugar and insulin increases were also not as high after breakfast when compared to the evening meal. Increased hunger and cravings for sweets were also found after a smaller size breakfast.

This is very encouraging news for anyone looking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. We’ve all, no doubt heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and this study supports that concept no matter what time of day you’re breaking your fast.

Your Dole Team