1 August 2008

Move It & Lose It with Prof Trim

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper
We know that what we eat is important for weight gain. We know less about the importance of how we eat. Traditionally, it’s been thought that larger meals earlier in the day will lead to less weight gain, but this has typically come from the “Grandma’s knowledge’ school of good health.

[PIC]

Research carried out at the University of Texas has tended to support Grandma by showing that people who eat a large breakfast, tend to eat less over the remainder of the day. Dr JM de Castro used diet diaries over seven days for a group of males and females recruited for another study on diet. The total and meal intakes of food energy, the amounts of the macronutrients ingested and the density of intake occurring during five 4-hour periods were identified and related to overall and meal intakes during the entire day.

De Castro found that there was a reciprocal relationship between the amount of food eaten in the morning and the total amount eaten during the day, and a positive correlation between the amount eaten late in the evening and the total intake. There was a positive association, on the other hand, between the energy density of foods eaten at any time of the day and total intake.

In other words, low energy-dense foods (e.g. low GI breakfast cereals, low GI toast, fruit etc) eaten in the morning appears to be particularly satiating and reduces the total amount of food eaten later in the day. Late night snacks on the other hand lack satiating value and tend to result in greater overall intake and hence a greater risk of weight gain.

Implication: Grandma was right.

[GARRY EGGER]
Dr Garry Egger aka Prof Trim

For more information on weightloss for men, check out Professor Trim.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd love to see some research on how this applies to Type 2 diabetics. My own experience is that it's reversed - at least in terms of how many carbs I can eat. It also doesn't seem to matter how low GL I go in the morning - 6g carbs is my limit. In the evening, I have a lot more leeway.

kemodog said...

@nicky...
I am exactly the opposite as a Type 2 diabetic. The more low GI foods I eat for breakfast and lunch, the less I "feel" to eat in the evenings. I've kept my A1C levels below 6 since I was diagnosed 2 years ago with exercise, changing how and what I ate, and when I ate. I feel uncomfortable if I eat a big evening meal (big holidays, birthdays, etc.) and now eat small portions even on those occasions.

GI Group said...

If someone with diabetes wants to have a bigger breakfast without increasing their carb intake, our dietitians often suggest things like:
Wholegrain toast with poached or scrambled egg;
Sardines, tuna, salmon or ricotta with grilled tomato, mushrooms, asparagus, spinach etc;
Legumes (canned beans or lentils) cooked up with tomato, mushroom, spinach, fresh herbs etc.