Those looking to shift extra pounds that crept on during the festive season shouldn’t skip breakfast, Spanish scientists have suggested.
Instead, dieters should aim to eat between 20 to 30 per cent of their daily energy intake for the most important meal of the day.
That’s between 500-750 calories for men, and 400-600 for women.
In a study, tracking the diet and health of almost 400 adults over three years, scientists found those who consumed this ‘sweet spot’ amount of energy at breakfast time had a lower body-mass-index (BMI) than those who ate too little or too much for breakfast.
While a full English provides too many calories, at almost 900, a healthy tub of porridge can provide too little at just 200.
But a McDonald’s sausage and egg McMuffin would be just right for women at 423 calories.
In the study, published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, scientists compared the diet and health metrics of 383 adults aged 55-75 at a hospital in Barcelona.
People wanting to lose weight shouldn’t skip breakfast, according to a new Spanish study
All participants were obese and diagnosed with metabolic syndrome — a cluster of conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol that raise the risk of heart problems and diabetes.
They were also participating in a clinical trial that saw experts put them on a Mediterranean diet, rich in vegetables and wholegrains, to try to help them lose weight.
Scientists tracked participants’ breakfast calorie intake at the start of the study, two-years-in and then one last time at the study’s three-year conclusion.
Participants’ health data was collected at various points throughout the study.
The scientists found those who ate too much or too little for breakfast had between a 2 to 3.5 per cent higher BMI than those who ate the perfect amount.
The same was true for waist circumference, a measure that indicates how much fat is collecting around vital organs in the abdomen.
Those who had too little or too much for breakfast had a waist size 2 to 4 per cent larger than those in the ‘sweet spot’ zone.
Analysis of blood tests also showed under-and-over eaters for breakfast had higher levels of fat in their blood — considered a risk factor for heart disease.
Under the BMI system, a score of 18.5 to 25 is healthy. A score of 25 to 29 counts as overweight, and 30-plus means a person is obese, the stage at which chances of illness rocket
But it wasn’t just about calories, scientists also analysed the nutritional quality of the breakfasts participants ate.
They found those who ate unhealthier breakfasts — such as high fat, salt and sugar foods like fried meats — also had greater risk of poor health metrics, independent of calorie content.
While a higher BMI and waist circumference makes sense for those eating too much for breakfast, why those eating less also had similar outcomes seems contradictory at first glance.
The scientists suggested this had something to do with those who eat breakfast feeling fuller during the day and eating fewer calories overall due to less snacking.
Professor Álvaro Hernáez, an author of the study and expert in health sciences at Ramon Llull University said: ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what and how you eat it matters.’
‘Eating controlled amounts—not too much or too little—and ensuring good nutritional composition is crucial.
‘Our data show that quality is associated with better cardiovascular risk factor outcomes. It’s as important to have breakfast as it is to have a quality one.’
They study has some limitations which the authors acknowledge.
Firstly it’s observational, meaning while data suggested a link between breakfast calorie intake and health outcomes, the researchers couldn’t prove this was the case.
While the scientists attempted to compensate for other factors like level of exercise participants reported there could be another factor they didn’t account for influencing the results.
What’s more, data on breakfasts was gathered via questioning participants meaning the information relied on participants’ recollection and honesty.
