The Benefits of a Protein-Packed Breakfast

[USAF-Larry]

An interesting article on using a Protein-Packed Breakfast to maintain a healthy weight management.

What did you have for breakfast today?  If you’re trying to lose extra pounds or prevent them to begin with, consuming a high protein breakfast may be an answer.  There’s more research than ever demonstrating how a high-protein breakfast is being used as a successful strategy in promoting weight loss and/or preventing weight gain both in teenagers and adults. 

Read the full article here: Benefits of a Protein-Packed Breakfast

[GershonSurge]

I read the entire study. The group of 20 obese (BMI around 28) women participated in three breakfasts for a seven days. One was high protein. One was skipping breakfast, and the other was lower protein. They mostly ate processed junk foods the rest of the day although they did have some rabbit type vegetables available.

There was no comment on how many calories the women actually ate during the rest of the day. The report only addressed perception of satiety and fullness. 

As President Obama would say, "Come on now!" 

[USAF-Larry]

I don't know what Obama had to do with it, @GershonSurge, but this study was not to consider total caloric intake, but to consider craving for food. I think there were more than 7 days involved in the study:

Primary Outcome Measures:

• Perceived Appetite and Satiety [ Time Frame: 5 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Questionnaires, assessing appetite sensations (i.e., hunger, fullness, prospective food consumption, motivation to eat), hedonic ratings (pleasure), and palatability will be completed throughout each of the testing days (which are separated by 2 weeks). The questionnaires contain validated visual analog scales (VAS) incorporating a 100 mm horizontal line rating scale for each response. The questions are worded in the following manner "how strong is your feeling of" with anchors of "not all" to "extremely."
  
  
• Appetite and Satiety Hormones (i.e., Ghrelin, PYY) [ Time Frame: 5 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  25 total blood samples will be drawn throughout each of the testing days (which are separated by 2 weeks). Specifically, there will be 5 ml/sample; 125 ml (4.2 oz)/testing day. The samples will be collected in test tubes containing EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). Protease inhibitors will be added to the sample to reduce protein degradation. Samples will be centrifuged at -4°C for 15 minutes. The plasma will then be separated and stored in microcentrifuge tubes at -80°C for future analysis. Plasma total ghrelin and total PYY will be measure.
  
  
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Brain Activation Responses [ Time Frame: 5 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Brain activation responses will be assessed prior to dinner in each of the 3 testing days (separated by 2 weeks). During the fMRI brain scan procedure, the participants will focus on a set of photographs which will be projected onto a screen and easily viewed through a mirror. The fMRI paradigm incorporates stimuli from three categories of pictures including food, nonfood (animals), and blurred baseline images. Brain activation in the Insula, Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Parahippocampus will be examined when viewing food vs. animal pictures.

[GershonSurge]

@USAF-Larry,

The Obama quote was a classic from one of his speeches. 

My wording was poor. The study took 5 weeks. Each participant ate breakfast A for a week, then had a week drying out period. Then breakfast B, etc. 

There were plenty of checks to assess the accuracy of the hunger measurement, so I'll stipulate those are valid, but let's look a little closer.

One week, they had 35 grams of protein in a 350 calorie breakfast. That's 315 calories out of 350 or 90% protein. There is no natural food that I know of that has that high a protein content. On the "low" protein week, they had 13 grams of protein or 117/350 calories. That's 33% protein.

The study itself was well-done, and I couldn't find any professional bias in the backgrounds of the researchers. It's notable they used the word "may" many times in their conclusions. I would accept it as a pilot study if the diet wasn't otherwise so unhealthy.

Let's look at the conclusions on Dr. Samadi's post. 

There are three primary reasons why a high-protein breakfast of 25-35 grams of protein promotes weight loss:

There was NOTHING in the study that supported the statement that the high-protein breakfast promoted weight loss. There was NOTHING in the study that supported the idea that the participants ate fewer calories with the high protein breakfast.

High-quality protein refers to proteins that provide all of the essential amino acids in a proportion needed by the human body.  The best sources of high-quality, high-protein sources to choose from include:

Oh, the old "only animal products provide the right kind of protein argument." So do starches. 

3.      High-protein breakfasts improve the quality of the diet by replacing unhealthy evening snacking with obtaining nutrient-rich foods at breakfast.

What about the nutrient absent foods shown in the picture that contain zero vitamins, few minerals, lots of chlorestol, zero fiber and lots of fat?

The key in preventing or reducing weight gain is not just a high-protein breakfast but choosing high-quality protein sources.

This is presented as fact as if it's the only way to maintain weight or reduce weight gain. Well, it's not a fact, since I'm doing it without their definition of an essential high protein breakfast. I don't have hunger except a normal and healthy hunger at meal time. If I happen to get hungry between large meals, I eat a healthy snack.

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

One week, they had 35 grams of protein in a 350 calorie breakfast. That's 315 calories out of 350 or 90% protein. There is no natural food that I know of that has that high a protein content. On the "low" protein week, they had 13 grams of protein or 117/350 calories. That's 33% protein. 

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The numbers do not add up: 35 grams of protein is 140 calories, not 315. And similarly, 13 grams of protein is 52 calories, not 117. Looks like there was a confusion between the energy value of protein (4 calories per gram) and fat (9 calories per gram). See https://fnic.nal.usda.gov/how-many-calories-are-one-gram-fat-carbohydrate-or-protein

[GershonSurge]

@Dominique

Thanks. I realize I used 9 calories per gram, not 4. It's still too much protein for the high protein diet.