Nutritionists have proven that breakfast helps you lose weight

“Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to your enemy” is a familiar proverb that exists in many European languages ​​and is a kind of folk wisdom. But how correct is it? British scientists decided to test this proverb in practice and proved that eating breakfast can really help with weight loss.

Morning eating is an important component of a healthy lifestyle, but its importance for weight loss was previously not fully understood. With the help of a study conducted by scientists from King's College London, it became clear that eating breakfast reduces hunger throughout the day and protects against overeating unhealthy foods.

21 people took part in the experiment. Scientists studied the activity of certain parts of their brain using magnetic resonance scanning, first on an empty stomach, and the next day the procedure was carried out after breakfast, the energy value of which was 750 kilocalories. In both cases, the subjects were offered lunch after completing the brain scan.

The results of the study were impressive. Imaging of the brain on an empty stomach showed increased activity in the pleasure centers, as well as in areas of the brain associated with hunger. Also, during lunch on a day when the subjects did not eat breakfast, they ate much more food, preferring high-calorie foods such as fatty meats, cakes and pastries for dessert.

In all cases, in the absence of breakfast, the total calorie content of food consumed during the day was higher than even after a fairly high-calorie breakfast (750 kilocalories constitute at least 25% of the daily needs of an adult man and about 33% of the needs of women).

Thus, having breakfast in the morning helps control appetite and helps reduce calorie intake throughout the day. This can be especially helpful for people who want to lose weight. But this doesn't mean you need to overeat for breakfast. Nutritionists recommend eating a healthy breakfast, which should be rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals.

“Abstaining from breakfast completely cannot be recommended, even for people who are on a strict diet to lose weight,” says Professor Tony Goldstone, who led the study, commenting on the findings.

Thus, eating breakfast is not only a pleasant start to the day, but also a tool for controlling appetite and reducing calorie intake throughout the day. For those who want to lose weight, breakfast should be a mandatory meal, but at the same time it should be healthy and balanced. For example, you can eat oatmeal with fruits and nuts, yogurt with berries and muesli, scrambled eggs with vegetables, a slice of whole grain bread with avocado, etc.

Thus, the popular wisdom that breakfast is the most important meal of the day has found scientific confirmation. Don't forget about breakfast and take care of your health!