A new Danish study looked at the relationship between nutrition and cognitive function and the results showed that a protein-rich breakfast can improve satiety and concentration.
According to the researcher, this is important knowledge in a culture where obesity rates and lifestyle-related disorders are on the rise.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” This is a cliché that has no scientific evidence. But a new Danish study finding how different types of breakfast affect satiety and concentration has added new fuel to the old adage.
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The study followed 30 obese women aged 18 to 30 for three days, during which the women ate a protein-rich breakfast, a carbohydrate-rich breakfast or no breakfast at all. The women’s feeling of satiety, hormone levels and energy intake were measured at lunch time. Their total daily energy consumption was also measured.
During the study participants also had to complete a cognitive concentration test.
“We found that a protein-rich breakfast with skyr (a sour-milk product) and oats increased satiety and concentration in participants, but it did not lead to any reduction in overall energy consumption compared with skipping breakfast or eating a carbohydrate-rich breakfast. ” says Mette Hansen, associate professor and PhD in the Department of Public Health, and one of the study’s authors.
The number of overweight people is increasing in Denmark and around the world. Obesity often occurs alongside lifestyle-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Previous studies have shown that people who eat breakfast have a lower BMI than those who don’t eat breakfast, and protein-rich foods generally have similar calories compared to carbohydrate-rich and high-fat foods. A greater satiety effect has been observed. Material.
So the idea was to test whether a protein-rich breakfast could be a good strategy to achieve greater satiety during the day and thus reduce daily calorie intake.
However, the solution is not so simple, Mette Hansen said: “The results confirm that protein-rich food increases the feeling of satiety, which is positive with regard to preventing weight gain. However, the results also suggest that this “For an effective nutrition strategy, just eating a protein-rich breakfast is not enough.”
The ability to replace a carbohydrate-rich diet with a protein-rich diet can be clearly seen in the satiety effect measured in the study.
Many subjects had difficulty consuming a complete protein breakfast consisting of skyr and oats.
“It is interesting that two different meals with similar calorie content can have such a large difference in the satiety effect. If the women in the project had been allowed to choose the meal size themselves, it is likely that they would have eaten the meal that was On the day they were served bread and jam, they consumed more food and thus more calories than on the day they were served skyr and oats,” explained Mette Hansen.
According to the researcher, although the study has provided important insights, it also has its limitations as only overweight young women participated in the study. The study is also based on relatively short-term observations, leaving open the question of how long-term dietary changes might affect health and weight.
Mette Hansen therefore points out that the study underlines the need for more research to understand how different types of food affect health over time.
“We already have new data coming from a trial where participants received either a high-protein breakfast or a low-protein breakfast. The aim was to study how different types of breakfasts affected body composition and microbiota and cholesterol levels, such as How do they affect other parameters? ” Mette Hansen said.
