Are you a breakfast skipper or a breakfast eater? Are you skipping breakfast to help lose weight? But does skipping breakfast help with weight loss? You may be surprised to hear skipping breakfast may not be the right thing to do if you want to lose weight.
People skip breakfast for many different reasons. For some it’s because they’re rushing, getting family members organised, or have heard fasting at breakfast can help with weight loss. But skipping breakfast may be doing you more harm than good.
Breakfast helps set the tone for the rest of the day. Did you know that numerous studies have shown breakfast can amplify your memory, improve your mood and even boost your work performance?
Studies show mixed results for the impact of eating breakfast and weight loss. However, the studies have generally not considered the quality of the breakfast. Eating a breakfast of toast or cereal may not help you to lose weight but a high protein breakfast might!
This is partly due to protein helping with satiety and energy expenditure.
How a protein rich breakfast can help weight loss
Eating a protein rich breakfast helps control the hormones that drive the food motivation and reward driven behaviour that can lead to increased snacking and overeating.
What happens in your eat a high protein meal?
- Increased secretion of the satiety hormones GIP and GLP-1, so you feel full and are less likely to overeat.
- Decreased ghrelin, the hormone that increases appetite and makes you feel hungry. So you are less likely to reach for snacks later in the day.
- Your body requires more energy to digest, absorb and metabolise the food. This is known as the thermic effect of the food (TEF)
- High protein meals during periods of weight loss helps you to maintain lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is important for retaining resting energy expenditure. Your resting energy expenditure is responsible for 60% -75% or the energy expended daily. By retaining lean muscle mass you maintain energy expenditure which helps your goal is to lose weight.
These effects help to account for weight loss that can be seen with high protein meals.
Why eating protein every meal is important
Protein is used for the repair and maintenance of all the cells in the body so is crucial for good health. The human body has a protein memory and reacts to a loss of body protein with increased hunger. This hunger remains for as long as it takes to restore the original protein content to 100%. Often when people are hungry, they reach for food high in carbohydrates. If they haven’t eaten sufficient protein, they feel hungry again soon after. This can lead to overeating carbohydrates and weight gain. This is one good reason to ensure all meals include a serving of good quality protein.
Eating a breakfast including quality protein, keeps you fuller for longer which is important for sustained energy and less snacking throughout the day! Protein is essential for maintaining good health and retaining lean muscle mass, which also helps with weight loss. So when prepping your meal, don’t forget to ask – where’s my protein!
If you’re keen to add a few new breakfast ideas to your repertoire, I’ve created a ebook with breakfast recipes to help with weight loss and increased energy. You can get a free copy here.
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