When it comes to weight loss and diabetes control the adage “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper,” may be true. According to a recent study eating a high-calorie breakfast promotes weight loss, improves diabetes and decreases the need for insulin.
In the past, people with diabetes were put on very restrictive calorie-controlled diets that were divided into six small meals. However, we now know there is no one-size that fits all and six meals daily does not always result in improved outcomes.
“This study shows that, in obese insulin-treated type 2 diabetes patients, a diet with three meals per day, consisting of a big breakfast, average lunch and small dinner, had many rapid and positive effects compared to the traditional diet with six small meals evenly distributed throughout the day: better weight loss, less hunger and better diabetes control while using less insulin,” said lead study author Daniela Jakubowicz, M.D., professor of medicine at Tel Aviv University, in a press release.
“The hour of the day—when you eat and how frequently you eat—is more important than what you eat and how many calories you eat,” she noted. “Our body metabolism changes throughout the day. A slice of bread consumed at breakfast leads to a lower glucose response and is less fattening than an identical slice of bread consumed in the evening.”
The study participants consisted of 11 women and 18 men who were obese with type 2 diabetes. They were all being