Large breakfasts ‘can help to stave off obesity and disease’

A new Tel Aviv University study has demonstrated the potential health benefits of making breakfast the largest meal of the day.

Professor Daniela Jakubowicz and a team from the university's Sackler Faculty of Medicine studied a group of 93 obese women, with the first group eating the majority of their calories for breakfast and the latter eating their biggest meal at dinnertime.

The researchers discovered that those who eat their largest daily meal at breakfast are far more likely to lose weight and reduce their waistline circumference than those who eat a large dinner.

Meanwhile, those consuming big breakfasts – which included dessert items such as a piece of chocolate cake or a cookie – also had significantly lower levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides throughout the day.

It suggests this habit could be translated into a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

These findings could be important given that 26 percent of adults in England are currently considered obese, a rate that is gradually increasing.