The size of your breakfast could affect how much you eat in a day, according to study

It is a well-known adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A new study has now provided even more credence to how central breakfast is for your appetite and hunger throughout the day.

As reported by BBC, a study by a team of researchers from University of Aberdeen has just been published by the journal Cell Metabolism, which found that the size of your breakfast could impact your body’s weight loss by affecting how hungry you feel.

Meal timings does not impact fat loss

The main question that the study probed, was about “chrono-nutrition," which is related to whether our body’s internal rhythm affects how we eat.

Researchers studied 30 participants for two months. These volunteers ate meals which were prepared for them, with the total calories of the day including breakfast, lunch and dinner adding up to 1,700 calories a day.

The researchers investigated the impact of having a big breakfast or dinner, and found that meal timings made no difference in the number of calories burned, or to the body’s resting metabolic rate or weight loss.

Big breakfast leads to smaller appetite during the day

However, the crucial finding from this research was that people had noticeably smaller appetites after eating big breakfasts.

This implies that people are more likely to stick to their diets and not reach for unhealthy foods and snacks to deal with mid-day hunger pangs or cravings.

Prof Alexandra Johnstone told the BBC,

The studies suggest, for appetite control, the big breakfast was a winner.

If you can start your day with a healthy big breakfast, you are more likely to maintain physical activity levels and maintain that control over appetite for the remainder of the day.

According to the report, it is still not clear to researchers why bigger breakfasts leads to smaller appetite.

Sources used:

BBC: ' Bigger breakfasts better for controlling appetite, study suggests'

Cell Metabolism: ‘Timing of daily calorie loading affects appetite and hunger responses without changes in energy metabolism in healthy subjects with obesity’

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