A number of research studies have often suggested that having regular breakfast aids weight loss. And we took the researchers’ word for it. However, a new study suggests that there is no strong evidence to prove that having a morning meal helps with weight loss. Rather, those who do have breakfast may actually end up slightly heavier than those who skip it.
A recent study published in BMJ reported research findings that followed detailed analysis of data from 13 randomised controlled trials conducted over a period of three decades, mostly in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Researchers involved in the study found that that people who ate breakfast tended to take more calories per day on the whole than those who skipped the morning meal. The researchers found that breakfast consumers ate 260 more calories per day on average, suggesting that it was unlikely that these people ate fewer calories during the rest of the day knowing that they had a meal in the morning.
The authors of the study also found that breakfast eaters tended to weigh slightly more than non-eaters and were 0.44 kilogrammes heavier.
Almost all nutritionists and healthcare professionals in the world suggests not skipping breakfast, citing as the most important meal of the day. Breakfast is generally considered essential for pulling though the daily grind of school, college or work and has been proven to aid concentration and overall wellbeing. The authors appeared to agree with the above idea, but they had reservations over the notion of breakfast actually aiding weight loss.
“Although eating breakfast regularly could have other important effects, such as improved concentration and attentiveness levels in childhood, caution is needed when recommending breakfast for weight loss in adults,” the authors wrote.
The authors said more evidence was needed to study the impact and role of breakfast, particularly in weight management.
BMJ is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal and one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals. It was initially called the British Medical Journal, but was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988.
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