Morning Matters: The Incredible Impact of Breakfast on Your Weight Loss Goals

Read time: 2 mins 15 sec. 

It's no secret that what we eat can significantly impact our health and well-being. By understanding healthy eating patterns, you can make more informed choices about the foods you consume and what meals you should eat. Especially when you want to lose weight and make changes to your diet, you should consider what meal of the day you should eat and how much as a part of your weight loss journey.  

Do you mean to say what meal of the day I eat or do not matters in my weight loss story?

 Yes, the quote from Adelle Davis about eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper is valid. So here is the spiel on it. We all are guilty of grabbing a cup of coffee for breakfast and maybe a quick bite. But as the day progresses, caloric intake increases. But this is backward from what we should do for weight loss, heart disease, and diabetes prevention.

I am listening; indulge me more about this breakfast and obesity relationship.

Breakfast skippers have higher BMI, lower risk of obesity, and considerable weight gain. In one of the studies, researchers placed overweight/obese women on a 1400 restricted calorie diet; one group had an intake of 700 calories at breakfast, 500 calories at lunch, and 200 calories at supper. And the other group participants were to reverse their intake of calories as in 200 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 700 for supper. As a result, all participants lost weight, but the women in the group with the highest caloric intake at breakfast lost two and a half times more weight loss vs. evening high caloric intake. 

In addition, skipping breakfast is associated with impaired glucose metabolism: high HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, post-prandial glycemia, and clinically diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Likely due to the pancreas being noted primarily to work at its utmost in the morning, so when you consume the same meal in the morning pancakes vs. evening pancakes, it might be deposited as more fat after the evening meal. Breakfast eaters had a greater reduction in glucose and insulin resistance. Breakfast eaters in the studies had suppression of appetite-stimulating hormone (ghrelin), less hunger, and greater satiety. 

So I am a breakfast eater; should I continue eating to lose weight? 

So you will continue losing weight, but if you want to increase the weight loss, you will need to change the pattern. Studies report that breakfast eaters lost more weight when they became breakfast skippers. The solution is to alternate between feasting and fasting to continue the weight loss journey successfully. 

So as a physician, when I discuss with my patients eating habits, one of the critical discussions is to have breakfast and have the most significant amount of calories in the morning and fewer calories closer to bedtime if they are breakfast skippers. Especially in patients with a history of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and metabolic syndrome, both need to reduce glucose and insulin resistance, achieved with the highest consumption of calories at breakfast vs. in the evening calories. 

Do yourself a favor; starting tomorrow, sit down at the breakfast table and fill up the plate with a balanced meal with proteins, fats, and good carbs to fuel your weight loss journey, if you have been skipping breakfast. And if you have been eating your breakfast, try fasting by skipping breakfast to accelerate your weight loss journey further. And we will be discussing meal frequency and intermittent fasting in the near future to help with weight loss. 

Keep feasting and fasting.