foodconsumer.org: Eating a carb-rich breakfast helps lose more weight

Eating a carb-rich breakfast helps lose more weight
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admin on 06/18/2008 17:18:00
 
WEDNESDAY JUNE 18, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- If you are really serious about
weight loss, start eating a big breakfast with high amounts of carbohydrates, a
new study suggests.
The study showed that those who ate big breakfasts with half of their daily
calories first thing in the morning lost much more weight over the long term
than those who used a small, greasy breakfast.
The high carb diet followers kept their weight from coming back.
The carb-rich breakfast regimen beat the low carb diet that has fascinated
millions of Americans who found the pounds coming back months later.
Lead author of the study Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, from the Hospital de Clinicas
in Caracas, Venezuela, explained (as quoted by foxnews.com): "A very low
carbohydrate diet exacerbates the craving for carbohydrates and slows
metabolism. After a short period of weight loss, there is a quick return to
obesity."
A diet high in carbs and protein is believed to help suppress cravings for sweet
or starchy foods, and also boosts the metabolism.
In the study, Jakubowicz and a team from the Virginia Commonwealth University
tested both a strict low-carb diet and a "big breakfast high in carbohydrates"
in 94 obese, inactive women to see the weight loss patterns in the two groups.
Initially the low-carb dieters lost more weight. They lost an average of 28
pounds compared to 23 pounds for the big-breakfast eaters.
After eight months, the low carb followers regained 18 pounds while those eating
big breakfasts continued to lose another 16.5 pounds during the study.
In the end, those who ate big breakfasts lost more than 21 percent of their
initial body weight while the low carb dieters lost merely 4.5 percent.
Those who used big breakfasts ate 1,085 calories per day and reported feeling
less hungry and experienced few cravings for carbs.
The low carb eaters on the other hand ate 1,240 calories, and they were more
likely to feel hungry.
It seems carbohydrates are easy to be disposed of in the body and people are
less likely to gain weight by eating carbohydrates.
The study was not the first to demonstrate the efficacy of a high carb diet on
weight loss.
Colin T. Campbell, Cornell nutritionist, says in his book China Study that his
earlier study showed that people who ate more calories mainly from carbohydrates
were less likely to become obese than their counterparts in the U.S. who ate
greasy meals with fewer calories.
Another study published in the September issue of The American Journal of
Medicine showed that a diet full of plant food was more effective at helping
women lose weight than an omnivorous diet, womenfitness.net reports.
In another study of nearly 55,000 women, Tufts University researcher P. Kirstin
Newby and colleagues found that those who ate carbohydrate-based diets were less
likely to gain weight.
The current study is scheduled to be presented this week at ENDO 08, the 90th
annual meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Francisco.
By Ben Wasserman, and edited by Heather Kelley.
Jun 18, 2008 - 1:29:04 PM