Eating breakfast helps burn calories: Study

Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day, yet many people are still shunning it in favour of fasting. But new research suggests that people who eat breakfast burn more calories and have tighter blood sugar control.

The University of Bath study examined the effect of daily breakfast compared to morning fasting on energy balance.

The research was conducted by splitting people into two groups, the "fasting" group and a "breakfast" group and studying them for six weeks. The "fasting" group consumed no calories until 12 p.m each day and the 'breakfast' group ate 700 calories before 11 a.m, reports contactmusic.com.

Those who ate breakfast experienced little impact on snacking or portion sizes or a change in their resting metabolism, contrary to popular belief.

However, they were likely to expend more energy, around 442 calories, by being active, mainly in the morning after eating.

James Betts of the University of Bath's Department of Health was the principal investigator in the study, published in leading nutrition journal American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"The main finding from our study is that people who eat breakfast burn more calories," said Betts.

"Most people would think this is because of reduced snacking and increased metabolic rate but actually this is due to moving around. They were more active during the period that they had eaten breakfast. People moved around if they had been fed and there are many benefits to being active."

As the day went on, those who ate breakfast experienced better blood sugar control compared to those who had fasted.