Eating a full English for breakfast can help you lose weight, a new study suggests.

 

Research shows that a meal high in protein instead of carbohydrate¹（碳水化合物） or fibre for breakfast can fight off hunger and avoid the urge to over-eat later in the day. 

 

A hearty² sitting of foods like sausage, egg or bacon instead of low-fat cereals³ or fruit for the first meal of the day helps to curb⁴ hunger throughout the morning and cut the number of calories eaten at lunch time, experts claim.

 

An experiment at the University of Missouri on a group of 18 to 55-year-old women showed that a high-protein breakfast kept them fuller longer than a meal with less protein but the same amount of fat and fibre.

 

The team, led by research scientist Dr Kevin Maki, found eating between around 35 grams of protein for breakfast - the equivalent⁵ to a four-egg omelette（煎蛋卷） or two sausages and a rasher⁶ of bacon（咸肉） - helped regulate⁷ appetite. 

 

He said: 'Eating a breakfast rich in protein significantly improves appetite control and may help women to avoid overeating later in the day.' 

 

In the experiment the participants all ate a 300 calorie meal with equal amounts of fat and fibre, although one group had between 30 and 39g of protein in their bowls and a third group were given just a glass of water.

 

Dr Heather Leidy, an assistant professor specialising in appetite regulation, explained: "In the USA, many people choose to skip breakfast or choose low protein foods because of lack of high protein convenient choices. 

 

The team tracked the test subjects' hunger throughout the morning, using appetite questionnaires every half an hour to gauge⁸ levels of hunger, fullness, and desire to eat before before breakfast and up until lunch. 

 

The group who ate a high-protein meal had improved appetite rating⁹ scores and ate less of the lunchtime meal of tortellini（意大利馄饨） and sauce than the other groups. 

 

Dr Leidy said: "These results demonstrate that commercially prepared convenient protein-rich meals can help women feel full until lunch time and potentially avoid overeating and improve diet quality."

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