Indulging sweet tooth during breakfast 'could help reduce weight'

Washington, Feb 8 (ANI): A full breakfast that includes a sweet dessert can help in weight loss, a new study has revealed.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that dessert, as part of a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that also includes proteins and carbohydrates, can help dieters to lose more weight - and keep it off in the long run.

The study was conducted by Professor Daniela Jakubowicz, Dr Julio Wainstein and Dr Mona Boaz of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Diabetes Unit at Wolfson Medical Center, and Professor Oren Froy of Hebrew University Jerusalem.

They say that the key is to indulge in the morning, when the body's metabolism is at its most active and we are better able to work off the extra calories throughout the day.

The researchers found over the course of a 32 week long study that participants who added dessert to their breakfast - cookies, cake, or chocolate - lost an average of 40 lbs more than a group that avoided such foods. These participants were also able to stave off weight gain for a longer time.

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.

However, 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 like chocolate.

Halfway through the study, participants in both groups had lost an average of 33 lbs per person. But in the second half of the study, results differed drastically.

The participants in the low-carbohydrate group regained an average of 22 lbs per person, but participants in the group with a larger breakfast lost another 15 lbs each.

At the end of the 32 weeks, those who had consumed a 600-calorie breakfast had lost an average of 40 lbs more per person than their peers.

The findings of the study were detailed in the journal Steroids. (ANI)