A Big Breakfast Could Make You Skinny

All else being equal, eating the bulk of your daily calorie intake in the morning instead of at night is better for your waistline, according to a new study published July 2 in the journal Obesity.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University put 93 overweight and obese women on a 1,400-calorie-a-day meal plan for 12 weeks.

The women were all in their mid-40s and had metabolic syndrome, the name for a handful of factors, like a large waistline and high blood pressure, that increase the risk of heart, disease, type 2 diabetes, and a stroke.

The women were split into two groups. For each group, the number of calories consumed in the morning and in the evening were reversed.

One group ate 700 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 200 calories for breakfast. The other group consumed 200 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 700 calories for dinner.

The big breakfast group lost more weight and had smaller waistlines after three months than those who ate a large dinner, researchers found.

Triglycerides— a type of fat found in the blood — fell by 33.6% in the big breakfast group, but surged by 14.6% in the large dinner group.

The researchers conclude: "High-calorie breakfast with reduced intake at dinner is beneficial and might be a useful alternative for the management of obesity and metabolic syndrome."