A pilot study by researchers at the University of Missouri found that eating a high protein brekfast may increase satiety and reduce food cravings.

The research focused on overweight adolescent girls who usually skipped breakfast. Brain signals associated with food motivation and reward were examined to find out whether increased protein at breakfast could alter neural activity.

For three weeks the teenagers either skipped breakfast, were given a breakfast of normal protein content or one which contained higher levels of protein.  Results showed that those who ate the high protein meal had the greatest differences in brain activity.

The researchers state that although this was only a small study these findings suggest that increased dietary protein at breakfast might be a beneficial strategy to reduce reward-driven eating behaviour in overweight teen girls.

My comments on this study:

It’s not just teenage girls who could benefit from eating protein for breakfast.

Breakfast is the one meal of the day which can often be the most unbalanced.  We either don’t have time and skip it completely or we choose foods which tend to be high in carbohydrates and low in protein.  For example toast with jam, marmite or butter, muffins and croissants or cereal with milk.  These are all high on carbs and low on protein.  

Eating a well balanced breakfast is not only important  for weight management.  By balancing our blood sugars it can also be beneficial for mood and energy levels throughout the day.

Protein rich foods which are great for breakfast include eggs, yoghurt, nuts & seeds, smoked salmon, beans, quiona and quality grilled sausages.  Protein based smoothies are also an option which can be made using whey, hemp, rice or pea protein powders.

Leidy H., Lepping R. et al. Neural Responses to Visual Food Stimuli After a Normal vs. Higher Protein Breakfast in Breakfast-Skipping Teens: A Pilot fMRI Study.  Obesity (2011) Published online ahead of print.