Breakfast may indeed be the most important meal of the day -- as long as that meal is not a doughnut -- a study suggests.
Researchers found that people who ate lower-calorie foods for breakfast tended to have a higher-quality diet overall.Furthermore, men who ate a healthy breakfast generally weighed less. Among women, breakfast eaters -- regardless of the food involved -- tended to weigh less than those who skipped the morning meal.
The findings give some support to past studies finding that breakfast eaters are less likely to be overweight -- and that eating a high-quality breakfast, rather than grabbing a pastry, is the key.
Research has shown, for example, that people who eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast have a lower average weight than either those who skip breakfast or those who sit down to a plate of steak and eggs.
What's "unique" about the current study is that it suggests that breakfast foods low in "energy density" -- ie, low in calories for a given amount of food -- "appear to predict better food choices for the rest of the day and may help with better management of body weight," researchers said.
Fruits, vegetables and high-fiber whole grains, for example, are low in energy density, while confections like Danish pastries and doughnuts have a high energy density.FRUITS, VEGGIES SLASH BREAST CANCER RISK
Certain breast cancer survivors who load up on fruits and vegetables, eating far more than current guidelines, can slash the risk that the tumors will come back by nearly a third, according to a study released last month. The finding only held for women who did not have hot flashes after their cancer therapy, the researchers said -- a finding that suggests fruits and vegetables act on estrogen.
RESEARCH LINKS FAST FOOD TO ALZHEIMER'S
Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, researchers said last month. "We now suspect that a high intake of fat and cholesterol in combination with genetic factors... can adversely affect several brain substances, which can be a contributory factor in the development of Alzheimer's," researchers said.
DIET ALTERS HEART FAILURE RISK
Each serving of whole-grains may lessen heart failure risk by 7 percent among middle-aged African-American and white men and women, according to findings from a long-term study. Conversely, each serving of high-fat dairy and egg appear to increase heart failure risk by 8 and 23 percent, respectively, researchers found. "A refined grain here, a full fat yogurt there, and the occasional egg aren't going to result in heart failure, but a continued pattern of such behaviors could," researchers said.
January 2009
