Is advice for breakfast consumption justified? Results from a short-term dietary and metabolic experiment in young healthy men.
Short-term (2 weeks) effects of the consumption of a high-energy (2920 kJ (700 kcal)) or low-energy (418 kJ (100 kcal)) breakfast on dietary patterns, blood variables and energy expenditure (indirect calorimetry) were compared in ten free-living healthy young men in a crossover study. During the high-energy breakfast, total energy intake was increased, the intake of protein and lipids was unchanged but the intake of carbohydrates was increased. Thus, 48 (sd 4)% of energy came from carbohydrates in the high-energy breakfast compared with 42 (sd 5)% in the low-energy breakfast. Excluding breakfast, the macronutrient composition of the diet remained identical in the two situations. After the high-energy breakfast, fasting serum triacylglycerol concentration was higher and HDL-cholesterol concentration was lower than after the low-energy breakfast. A high glycaemic response was observed in the morning after the high-energy breakfast period, while there was a peak of free fatty acids after the low-energy breakfast. The high-energy breakfast induced a strong inhibition of fat oxidation throughout the day. Although long-term adaptation to a high-energy breakfast cannot be excluded, the high-energy breakfast in this study did not appear to be favourable to health. Our results do not support the current advice to consume more energy at breakfast.
Martin
A
A
Human Nutrition Research Centre, Batiment 1, Edouard Herriot Hospital, Lyon, France. martine.laville@chu-lyon.fr
Normand
S
S
Sothier
M
M
Peyrat
J
J
Louche-Pelissier
C
C
Laville
M
M
D000328:Adult; D001481:Basal Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D015930:Diet Records; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism*; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats