High Carb, High Protein Breakfast For Weight Loss?

June 23, 2008

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Should breakfast be a high carb, high protein meal and then the remaining meals low carb, low calorie? A new study suggests that this might be the way to lose and maintain weight loss.

Carb restriction has been shown to be an effective method of dieting. However, there are two common problems. First, it is hard to maintain for extended periods of time, due to the intense carb cravings that most people get. Secondly, once a low carb diet is stopped, there is often a rapid weight gain.

The idea of high carb, high protein breakfast diet is that it reduces the cravings for carbs and increases the sense of fullness. This will then make sticking with the diet easier and not lead to the rebound effect of “carb cramming” after stopping dieting.

A yearlong study compared a low carb diet (not the high protein, high fat Atkins-style) with a diet that had a high carb breakfast. The focus for the first 8 months of the study was weight loss, the next 4 months focused on weight maintenance.

The results are very interesting. After 4 months the low carb only group had lost an average of 28 lbs and the high carb breakfast group had lost an average of 23 lbs. However, at 8 months the low carb group had regained an average of 18 lbs, whereas the high carb breakfast group had on average lost another 16.5 lbs!

The authors suggest that “The big-breakfast diet works because it controls appetite and cravings for sweets and starches. It also is healthier than an extremely low-carbohydrate diet, because it allows people to eat more fruit and therefore get enough fiber and vitamins.”

Sounds worth a try since the usual low carb diet does not seem to work long term for the majority of people.

This study was presented last week at the annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society. The press release gives more details including the number of calories, carbs, proteins and fat.

photo credit: Robb1e