Cakes and Chocolate for breakfast could aid in dieting
An Israeli study released in the latest issue of the journal, Steroids, has suggested that adding dessert foods such as cakes, cookies or chocolate to a balanced breakfast meal, could aid in the functionality of weight-losing dieting to help control cravings.
The study was conducted by a team of scientists led by Dr Daniela Jakubowicz, a leading professor Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Over 32 weeks, One hundred and ninety three clinically obese, non-diabetic adults were randomly assigned to one of two diet groups with identical caloric intake — the men consumed 1600 calories per day and the women 1400. The first group was given a low carbohydrate diet including a small 300 calorie breakfast, and the second was given a 600 calorie breakfast high in protein and carbohydrates, always including a dessert item such as chocolate, cake or a cookie.
Although the participants consumed the same daily amount of calories, Dr Jacubowicz stated, “the participants in the low carbohydrate diet group had less satisfaction, and felt that they were not full”, noting that their cravings for sugars and carbohydrates were more intense and eventually caused them to cheat on the diet plan. However, she added that the group that consumed a bigger breakfast, including dessert, experienced few if any cravings for these foods later in the day.”
Dr Jakubowicz said that “A meal in the morning provides energy for the day’s tasks, aids in brain functioning, and kick-starts the body’s metabolism, making it crucial for weight loss and maintenance. Breakfast is also the meal that most successfully regulates gherlin, the hormone that increases hunger.”
“One of the biggest challenges that people face is keeping the weight off in the long term. Ingesting a higher proportion of our daily calories at breakfast makes sense. Not only is it good for our body function, but also alleviates cravings. Restrictive diets that forbid desserts and carbohydrates are initially effective, but often cause dieters to stray from their food plans as a result of withdrawal-like symptoms, regaining the initial weight lost”, she said.
She concluded by saying that the study shows that diets must be realistic to be adopted as part of a new lifestyle and curbing cravings is better than deprivation, in order to achieve weight-losing success.
