How a High Protein Breakfast Can Kickstart Your Weight Loss
Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?
Myth: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Fact: While eating breakfast or not doesn’t necessarily impact your weight, eating a high protein breakfast can help you have stable blood sugar, a higher metabolism, lose belly fat, and reduce your hunger throughout the day.
There has been a lot of debate over whether or not eating breakfast is necessary or even important, and the research shows us that it actually doesn’t matter all that much. Studies show that dieters who eat breakfast don’t lose more weight than those who skip it.
Another myth is that eating breakfast will “kickstart” your metabolism. While often repeated, this statement has no scientific backing and our understanding of metabolism shows us that it functions more or less the same no matter when you eat your meals, and is far more influenced by what you eat.
Despite this, research points to breakfast being indicative of an overall healthier lifestyle.
When compared to people who don’t eat until later in the day, people who eat breakfast tend to eat a healthier diet overall, with higher fiber content and fresh foods high in micronutrients.
On the other hand, people who skip breakfast tend to drink more alcohol, work out less, and eat more processed diets.
All in all, it doesn’t seem that eating breakfast or skipping it has a significant impact on your weight, but what is conclusive in the research is that eating a high protein breakfast does have a positive impact on weight loss.
Here’s how.
How protein unlocks weight loss
We have talked a lot about protein on this blog, and you can find a more in depth discussion on protein here. However, to sum it up quickly, a high protein diet is shown to increase weight loss in dieters.
One reason for this is that protein keeps you fuller, making you eat less overall. For example, one study showed that women who increased their dietary protein to 30% of their daily calories, actually ate 440 calories less than the control group, losing an average of 11lbs in 12 weeks.
Eating protein in the morning sets you up for success, with the benefits of eating protein starting early on, positively influencing the rest of you day.
Let’s take a closer look at how loading up on protein in the morning can help you lose weight.
Three benefits of a high protein breakfast
Feel fuller longer
One of the qualities of protein is that when you eat it, it keeps you feeling satiated much longer than other macronutrients. Research reflects that eating protein in the morning reduces the hunger inducing hormone, grehlin, and increases satiety inducing hormones, both of which make you feel fuller.
What’s more is that eating more protein in the morning influences these hormones throughout the day, having lasting effects long past when you’ve eaten breakfast. For example, some studies show that a high protein breakfast caused people to eat 135 fewer calories throughout the day without any other changes.
This may also influence the way we perceive hunger, with people who eat protein in the morning snacking less and having fewer obsessive food related thoughts throughout the day.
Protein targets belly fat
We have known that a high protein diet is associated with higher fat loss, but we are only beginning to understand that dietary protein actually targets belly fat, which is most associated with adverse health risks.
High belly fat has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, high blood pressure, and even cancer. Losing fat around the abdomen is notoriously difficult, and protein might just be the answer to this problem.
One relevant study had participants eat either an egg or bagel breakfast with the same amount of calories. After eight weeks, the egg breakfast group lost 65% more weight and had a 34% greater reduction in waist circumference.
Boost your metabolism
I have already told you that eating breakfast will not necessarily “kickstart” your metabolism as people mistakenly believe. However, eating a high protein breakfast can boost your metabolism throughout the day.
The reason for this is that your body actually uses more calories to metabolize protein than it does to process carbs or fat. This is because calories from protein have a higher thermic effect than other nutrients. This leads to a higher overall metabolism, and the effects last all day.
This, compounded with the fact that protein keeps you fuller longer, means that you will eat fewer calories while burning more of them.
How much protein is enough?
Ideally, a good baseline to start with is by eating about 20g of protein at breakfast. This is because your body actually can’t process more than about 25g of protein at a time, meaning that anything above that amount will likely not have much of an effect.
While it is important to increase protein, remember that a calorie deficit, or eating less calories than you burn throughout the day, is still essential to weight loss. When you increase your protein, make sure that you are not also increasing your calories but rather replacing those from carbs or fat.
For more on how much protein you need to lose weight, check out my other post about counting macros.
Easy high protein breakfast foods to add to your routine
In countries outside of America, it is much more common to eat non-traditional breakfast foods, so you are welcome to throw out social norms and eat whatever high protein ingredients you like with your breakfast including meat and poultry, tofu, legumes, and other ingredients.
For more traditional breakfast options, here are some examples of how to pack more protein into your morning meal, including grams of protein per serving.
Eggs (6g per egg): scramble them, fry them, boil them, make them into an omelette, frittata, or a quiche.
Greek yogurt (13g per cup): make a parfait with fresh fruit and protein granola, blend it into a smoothie, or plop it on top of your omelette to replace sour cream.
Cottage cheese (25g per cup): mix into scrambled eggs, eat it with fruit, or eat plain alongside the rest of your breakfast.
Protein powder (10-80g per serving): blend it into a smoothie, mix it into overnight oats or chia pudding, or blend it into milk for an easy way to get more protein if you aren’t a fan of typical breakfast foods.
Nut butter (8g per 2tbsp): spread it on toast, blend it into a smoothie, or put a dollop on top of your yogurt or chia pudding. Just be careful with your portions as nut butters can be high in fat.
Smoked salmon or trout (25g per 1 cup): eat it on a half of a bagel or lavash bread, with cottage cheese, or chopped up into an omelette.
Bacon or turkey bacon (8g per 2 slices): eat it in an omelette or alongside any of your favorite breakfast foods.
Conclusion
Breakfast on it’s own may not influence weight loss like we once believed, but what you eat at breakfast can certainly set up your day for success, from making it easier to stick to your calorie goals to boosting your metabolism and targeting belly fat.
Whether you already eat breakfast everyday or just want to add more protein into your diet overall, doing so in the morning will help you get closer to your weight loss goals.
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