Eating Protein for Breakfast Makes You Less Hungry — But You Sleep Less
A pilot study assessing whether the consumption of a protein‐rich breakfast improves appetite control, eating behavior, and sleep quality compared to skipping breakfast in healthy young professionals
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
A high-protein breakfast reduced total sleep time by 36 minutes without lowering sleep efficiency.
Most nutrition studies link better diet to better sleep—this shows a trade-off: better appetite control came with less sleep, even though sleep quality stayed the same.
Practical Takeaways
Try a 30g protein breakfast (e.g., 3 eggs + Greek yogurt + 1 scoop whey) for 7 straight days and track your hunger and sleep.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
A high-protein breakfast reduced total sleep time by 36 minutes without lowering sleep efficiency.
Most nutrition studies link better diet to better sleep—this shows a trade-off: better appetite control came with less sleep, even though sleep quality stayed the same.
Practical Takeaways
Try a 30g protein breakfast (e.g., 3 eggs + Greek yogurt + 1 scoop whey) for 7 straight days and track your hunger and sleep.
Publication
Journal
The FASEB Journal
Year
2017
Authors
Jess A Gwin, H. Leidy
Related Content
Claims (10)
Eating a high-protein breakfast might make people feel a bit fuller during the day, but the evidence isn't strong enough to be sure.
People who eat a high-protein breakfast sleep about 36 minutes less per night than when they skip breakfast, but the quality of their sleep doesn't change.
Even though people slept less after eating a high-protein breakfast, they didn't wake up more often or have worse sleep quality — their sleep was just shorter.
After eating a high-protein breakfast, people didn’t eat more protein later — they just ate less carbs and fat.
The benefits of a high-protein breakfast on hunger and eating habits only showed up after eating it every day for a week — one meal wasn’t enough.