Increased eating frequency is postulated to increase metabolism, reduce hunger, improve glucose and insulin control, and reduce body weight, making i

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) pilot study identified whether breakfast consumption would alter the neural activity in brain regions associated with food motivation and reward in overweight “breakfast skipping” (BS) adolescent girls and examined whether increased protein at breakfast would lead to additional alterations. Ten girls (Age: 15 ± 1 years; BMI percentile 93 ± 1%; BS 5 ± 1×/week) completed 3 testing days. Following the BS day, the participants were provided with, in randomized order, normal protein (NP; 18 ± 1 g protein) or higher protein (HP; 50 ± 1 g protein) breakfast meals to consume at home for 6 days. On day 7 of each pattern, the participants came to the laboratory to consume their respective breakfast followed by appetite questionnaires and an fMRI brain scan to identify brain activation responses to viewing food vs. nonfood images prior to lunch. Breakfast consumption led to enduring (i.e., 3‐h post breakfast) reductions in neural activation in the hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate, and parahippocampus vs. BS. HP led to enduring reductions in insula and middle prefrontal cortex activation vs. NP. Hippocampal, amygdala, cingulate, and insular activations were correlated with appetite and inversely correlated with satiety. In summary, the addition of breakfast led to alterations in brain activation in regions previously associated with food motivation and reward with additional alterations following the higher‐protein breakfast. These data suggest that increased dietary protein at breakfast might be a beneficial strategy to reduce reward‐driven eating behavior in overweight teen girls. Due to the small sample size, caution is warranted when interpreting these preliminary findings.

This pilot study examined whether the addition of a normal protein (NP) vs. high protein (HP) breakfast leads to alterations in food cravings and plasma homovanillic acid (HVA), which is an index of central dopamine production, in overweight/obese ‘breakfast skipping’ late-adolescent young women. A randomized crossover design was incorporated in which 20 girls (age 19 ± 1 y; BMI 28.6 ± 0.7 kg/m2) consumed 350 kcal NP (13 g protein) breakfast meals, 350 kcal HP (35 g protein) breakfast meals, or continued breakfast skipping (BS) for 6 consecutive days/pattern. On day 7 of each pattern, a 4 h testing day was completed including the consumption of breakfast (or no breakfast) followed by food craving questionnaires and blood sampling for HVA concentrations throughout the morning. Both breakfast meals reduced post-meal cravings for sweet and savory foods and increased HVA concentrations vs. BS (all, p < 0.05). Between breakfast meals, the HP breakfast tended to elicit greater reductions in post-meal savory cravings vs. NP (p = 0.08) and tended to elicit sustained increases in HVA concentrations prior to lunch vs. NP (p = 0.09). Lastly, HVA concentrations were positively correlated with the protein content at breakfast (r: 0.340; p < 0.03). Collectively, these findings suggest that the addition of breakfast reduces post-meal food cravings and increases homovanillic acid concentrations in overweight/obese young people with higher protein versions eliciting greater responses.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a protein-rich beverage leads to a differential response in appetite, satiety and subsequent energy intake compared with an energy- and macronutrient-matched solid version in young people. A total of fifteen adolescents (eight girls and seven boys; age 14 (sem1) years, BMI percentile 79 (sem4) %) randomly completed two testing days that included protein-rich (PR) breakfast meals (38 % of energy as protein, 48 (sem2) g/meal) provided as a solid (S) or beverage (B). Breakfast was 24 % of estimated daily energy needs (2146 (sem96) kJ/meal). Perceived appetite and satiety responses were collected over 5 h followed by anad libitumlunch buffet. The PR-S meal led to greater reductions in 4 h postprandial appetite ( − 6221 (sem1171) mm × 240 min)v.the PR-B meal ( − 3570 (sem957) mm × 240 min;P < 0·05). When examining the data according to hourly responses, the PR-S meal led to greater reductions in appetite during postprandial hours 2, 3 and 4v.the PR-B meal (all comparisons,P < 0·05). No differences in postprandial hourly or total (4 h) fullness were observed following the PR-Sv.PR-B meals. The PR-S meal led to approximately 480 kJ less energy consumed at thead libitumlunch buffet (1418 (sem222) kJ)v.the PR-B meal (1900 (sem326) kJ;P < 0·05). These data indicate that, although the food form of the PR breakfast meals had little, if any, effect on satiety, the appetitive responses were diminished and the subsequent food intake was greater when protein was consumed as a beveragev.a solid meal.

The obesity epidemic, particularly in young people, is the greatest threat to public health this century. Several dietary factors have recently been identified to play a critical role in the etiology of this disease. Of particular interest is the common dietary habit of skipping breakfast, which has been strongly associated with obesity. Cross-sectional studies indicate that young people who habitually eat breakfast have a higher-quality diet, eat fewer unhealthy snacks, and have better body weight management compared with those who skip breakfast. Additionally, breakfast consumers also exhibit better glucose control throughout the day compared with those who skip the morning meal. These data lend support for the addition of breakfast to reduce factors contributing to obesity and diabetes in young people. Although evidence exists illustrating the benefits of cereal-based breakfast compared with skipping the morning meal, less is known with respect to the consumption of other breakfast foods, namely those rich in dietary protein. This article provides clinical evidence documenting the strong protective effect of breakfast consumption to prevent and/or treat obesity/type 2 diabetes and promote overall health in young people.