Why You Should Eat a High-Protein Breakfast

If you’re looking to lose weight, you should start by pumping up your breakfast. New research presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society found that a high-protein breakfast is one key to weight loss. In this eight-month study, obese individuals who ate a 600-calorie breakfast containing about 40 grams of protein (and a small lunch and dinner) lost an average of 40 pounds.

This is huge when you compare it to the results of most diets – and it comes on the heels of a related study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

These researchers added extra protein to the diets of overweight and obese men, and recorded what happened when they consumed it at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or throughout the day. Following the extra-protein meal, the subjects reported feeling fuller for the rest of the day, especially when the extra protein – such as eggs and lean Canadian bacon – was eaten at breakfast.

This is very much in keeping with other research indicating that protein for breakfast (indeed, eating breakfast period) is a great weight-loss strategy.

Simply adding a side of scrambled eggs to your pancakes and changing nothing else accomplishes nothing. But as part of an overall calorie-reduced diet and exercise program, the extra protein – especially at breakfast – may help you lose weight.

[Ed. Note: Most Americans eat a paltry amount of protein at breakfast – representing only about 15 percent of their total daily protein intake. So following health expert Jonny Bowden’s suggestion could help you slim down. For more easy-to-follow health enhancers, check out Jonny’s book The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth]