Breakfast with Dessert: Good for Weight Management

Dieters usually list desserts and sweets as clear ‘don’ts’. But personal will is often too weak, and a relapse into sweat-feasting habits sabotages most dieting goals. The question of whether a strict ban of all sweets is really necessary for achieving one’s dream weight was the subject of an eight-month study, which added a sweet dessert on the breakfast menu of test persons who were on a low-carb diet. The result: This weight-loss program was more successful than completely prohibiting sweets.

The study’s details

The study divided nearly 200 overweight, non-diabetic test persons into two groups: The first group was on a low-carb diet featuring a 300-kcal breakfast, which contained only ten grams of carbohydrates. The second group, on the other hand, had a daily breakfast of 600 kcal, with 60 grams of carbohydrates and a small, sweet dessert, e.g. chocolate, a doughnut or cookies. In this group, the breakfast’s protein percentage was 15 grams higher than in the first group. In total, however, both diets contained the same amount of daily calories: 1,600 kcal for men and 1,400 kcal for women. They chiefly differed in the composition of “the most important meal of the day”. Accordingly, the amount of allowed calories after breakfast for women who ate a sweet dessert in the morning was 500 kcal for lunch and 300 kcal for dinner. Men in that group could eat 600 kcal for lunch and 400 kcal for dinner.

Result: Rich breakfast wins

After four months, halfway through the study, both group’s participants lost an average of 33 pounds (15.1 kilogram) per person. The two low-carb diets were equally successful at this point. The study’s last four months, however, showed remarkable differences: While the “dessert-group” continued losing weight, an average of 15 pounds (6.9 kilograms) per person, the first group’s subjects gained back 22 pounds (11.6 kilograms) per person. Furthermore, the test persons who ate the dessert with breakfast reported feeling less hungry and having fewer cravings than the other group. This was supported by measuring the levels of the so-called “hunger hormone” ghrelin. After breakfast, the levels of ghrelin dropped about 45.2 percent in the “dessert-group”, and only about 29.5 percent in the other group.
Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, professor at the University Tel Aviv in Israel and the study’s principal investigator, attributed the successful results of breakfast with dessert to meal timing and composition. The high content of proteins reduces hunger, the combination of proteins and carbohydrates increases the feeling of satiety and the dessert decreases cravings for sweet, starchy and fatty foods. Such eating attacks mainly occur when the diets strictly ban sweets. “The goal of a weight loss diet should be not only weight reduction but also reduction of hunger and cravings, thus helping prevent weight regain,” said Dr. Jakubowicz.

Diet-support with the CaloriScan

The usage of digital devices is advisable for calorie-conscious diets, such as the one introduced above. The CaloriScan from Omron Healthcare provides perfect support while trying to lose weight. By measuring daily calorie consumption, the handy device makes it possible to coordinate the own diet with personal weight management. Thanks to its 3-D sensor technology, the easy-to-use calorie coach differentiates every kind of movement and exactly calculates the amount of calories burnt, 24 hours a day. Thereby, users are always informed about their calorie consumption and quickly know if they should only eat a cookie with breakfast, or if they can opt for a doughnut instead.

Please find further information and new articles all about healthy weight management every week at www.mycaloriscan.com.

Publication free of charge. Specimen copy requested.

About Omron Healthcare
Committed to improving people’s lives, OMRON Healthcare provides clinically proven, innovative medical equipment for health monitoring and therapy. Our product portfolio includes blood pressure monitors, respiratory therapy devices, electronic fever thermometers and activity monitors as well as body composition monitors and professional medical devices.
OMRON Healthcare Group is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. OMRON Healthcare Europe B.V. is the healthcare division for Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa, and provides service to customers in more than 60 countries through a powerful distribution network.

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This release was published on openPR.