Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Breakfast With Dessert Helps Weight Loss - Love it or hate it? Ice cream with your pancakes, anyone?

Breakfast With Dessert Helps Weight Loss
Researchers in Israel found having a sweet dessert at breakfast contributes to weight loss. The study involved 193 clinically obese, non-diabetic adults randomly assigned to one of two diet groups with identical caloric intake – the men consumed 1,600 calories per day and the women 1,400. 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, which included a dessert of chocolate. Halfway through the study, participants in both groups had lost an average of 33 pounds per person, but in the second half of the study, the low-carbohydrate group regained an average of 22 pounds per person, while participants in the group with a larger breakfast lost another 15 pounds each. The study found at the end of the 32 weeks, those who had consumed a 600-calorie breakfast had lost an average of 40 pounds more per person than their peers. Though they consumed the same daily amount of calories, the participants in the low-carbohydrate diet group had less satisfaction and felt that they were not full, the study said. “But the group that consumed a bigger breakfast, including dessert, experienced few cravings for these foods later in the day,” researchers said.