KARACHI: Eating heavy breakfast and light dinner can help people remain fit. Drinking enough water and exercising regularly are also important for weight loss. Even science backs up the heavy breakfast and light dinner for keeping people fit and fine. Eating a light dinner and a heavy breakfast can also prevent obesity and high blood sugar by burning more calories, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Endocrine Society.
According to the researchers, human metabolism is measured by a process called diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), which can differ depending on the mealtime.
“Our results show that a meal is eaten for breakfast, regardless of the number of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner,” says lead researcher Juliane Richter.
Here’s how the researchers came to this conclusion. The researchers conducted a three-day laboratory study of 16 men who consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner, and vice versa in a second round.
They found identical calorie consumption led to 2.5 times higher DIT in the morning than in the evening after high-calorie and low-calorie meals. The food-induced increase of blood sugar and insulin concentrations was diminished after breakfast compared with dinner.
The results also show eating a low-calorie breakfast increased appetite, specifically for sweets. “We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases,” said Richter.