Drop Weight and Your Cravings

Silence a rumbling stomach with a high-protein breakfast.

Everyone wants to look good in a bathing suit, but eating healthy is never easy. A new study published by the British Journal of Nutrition, however, has found that eating more protein for breakfast leads to a greater and longer feeling of fullness if you're looking to lose weight. In other words, if you hear vending machines calling your name by mid-day, lean breakfast meats (not bacon) could cut unwanted cravings

The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University and the University of Kansas Medical Center, had nine men record and score their fullness through five different feeding trials of equal calories. The five diets included a normal amount of protein (.8 grams per kg body weight), extra protein (an additional .6g per kg) at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and extra protein spread evenly throughout the day. Fullness was reported three hours after every meal and for the whole of the day. The men then tried the different trials with both their recommended daily caloric intake and a 750-calorie reduction.

The results showed little difference between the diets while the subjects had their normal energy intake. But with the calorie restriction, an amount that would add up to one pound of weight loss per week, fullness scores were the greatest with the additional protein at breakfast.

"The findings suggest," says study author Heather Leidy, M.D. of the University of Kansas Medical Center, "that people trying to lose weight should eat more protein at breakfast to help them maintain their diet and avoid overeating. Alternately, if most of a person's protein is consumed at dinner, hunger is reduced at the following breakfast, which could lead to over-eating later in the day."

For a 150-pound man or woman, the extra protein would amount to 40 grams. You can get that protein from six slices of Canadian bacon or eight turkey breakfast sausage links. Those may sound like gut-bombs, but both meats are lean and these serving sizes have less than 300 calories.

If you're wondering how your bowl of cereal stacks up: For the same 300 calories, a relatively high-protein cereal like Kashi GOLEAN, served with a half-cup of skim milk, only registers about 25 grams. Corn flakes with milk, on the other hand, hold only 12 grams of protein, with most of it coming from the milk.

 *To those whom argue against carbs for breakfast.... you're welcome!!