Why eating eggs for breakfast stops you from snacking at night
Beneficial effects of a higher-protein breakfast on the appetitive, hormonal, and neural signals controlling energy intake regulation in overweight/obese, “breakfast-skipping,” late-adolescent girls
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Girls who skipped breakfast tended to snack on fatty foods at night. When they ate a breakfast with lots of protein (like eggs and beef), they felt fuller longer and didn't crave snacks as much—even though they ate the same total calories.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Girls who skipped breakfast tended to snack on fatty foods at night. When they ate a breakfast with lots of protein (like eggs and beef), they felt fuller longer and didn't crave snacks as much—even though they ate the same total calories.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 560 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Leidy HJ, Ortinau LC, Douglas SM, Hoertel HA
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Claims (5)
Among overweight or obese adolescent girls who skip breakfast, eating a morning meal with 35 grams of protein from eggs and beef reduces hunger, increases fullness, alters hunger-related hormones, and reduces evening snacking on high-fat foods compared to skipping breakfast or eating a low-protein cereal breakfast, without changing total daily calorie intake.
In overweight or obese teenage girls who skip breakfast, eating a meal with 35 grams of protein before lunch leads to less brain activity in regions linked to food motivation when shown food images, compared to eating a meal with 13 grams of protein.
For overweight or obese teenage girls, eating breakfast—whether high-protein or normal-protein—lowers hunger and increases fullness during the day compared to skipping breakfast. A high-protein breakfast provides additional benefits in reducing hunger and increasing fullness during the afternoon.
Among overweight or obese teenage girls who typically skip breakfast, eating a breakfast high in protein leads to about a 25% reduction in evening consumption of high-fat snacks, even when total daily calorie intake remains unchanged.
Among overweight or obese teenage girls who skip breakfast, eating a high-protein breakfast does not lead to a lower total calorie intake over the day, because they tend to eat more later to make up for the missed calories.