Eggs may have at last earned their due. Having delicious, nutritious eggs at breakfast might just help keep your appetite in check, better than pre-packaged cereal, according to new research.
Earlier work by the same team of researchers has shown that eggs at breakfast increase feelings of fullness, and have subjects eating less – but is it the amount of protein, or the protein type that brings this result? This latest research sought to find that answer.
Though the most recent study was small, it was very well designed. To conduct the work, the team kept track of twenty overweight or obese subjects, serving them a breakfast that had either eggs or cereal for a one-week study period. The meals supplied were otherwise equal in calories, carbs, protein and fat, though we don’t know how they served the eggs, the quantities involved and what other items were part of the breakfast.
On day one and the final day of the study period, the subjects were provided with a buffet lunch and the researchers noted how hungry (or otherwise) the subjects felt both before and after both meals, as well as the number of calories eaten at the buffet tables.
They also obtained blood samples to look at levels of hunger stimulating hormone ghrelin, as well as the fullness signaling hormone known as PYY3-36. The subjects got a 14 day break and then had a second week long test where they ate the opposite breakfast food. Egg eaters got cold cereal, cold cereal eaters had eggs.
In the end, the researchers saw that those subjects who had eggs for breakfast weren’t as hungry before lunch, and ate less from the buffet in comparison with the subjects who had cereal for breakfast. The egg eaters also showed reduced ghrelin levels and higher PYY3-36 in the three hours prior to the mid-day meal.
It may be that the protein that’s naturally part of eggs is better at keeping us feeling full than is the protein in wheat. Higher quality protein may indeed enhance satiety, and this could help people stick to weight loss plans and thus succeed in their goals suggests researchers.
So what do these findings tell you if you’re trying to lose weight? It may be that altering the sort of protein you’re eating, instead of the amount could prove beneficial when it comes to dropping those unwanted, unhealthy pounds.
According to the American Heart Association, adults in good health can safely enjoy a single egg each day. A large egg brings your body 70 calories, 6g of protein, 5 g of fat, 186 mg of cholesterol – making eggs at breakfast both a nutritious and affordable choice. Understand too that eggs are perishable and are best kept refrigerated until ready to be cooked.
