People eating big breakfast may burn twice as many calories: Study

Eating a low-calorie breakfast increased appetite, specifically for sweets, the study said.

Eating a big breakfast rather than a large dinner may prevent obesity and high blood sugar, according to study which may lead to better clinical dietary recommendations to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases.

The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, assessed 16 men who consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner -- and vice versa in a second round -- over the course of three days.

"Our results show that a meal eaten for breakfast, regardless of the amount of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner," said the study's corresponding author, Juliane Richter from the University of Lubeck in Germany.

"This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast," Richter said.

According to the researchers, the human body expends energy when it digests food for the absorption, digestion, transport, and storage of nutrients -- a process, known as diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT).

They said DIT is a measure of how well our metabolism is working, and can differ depending on mealtime.

In the study, they found that identical calorie consumption led to 2.5 times higher DIT in the morning than in the evening after high-calorie and low-calorie meals.

The food-induced increase of blood sugar and insulin concentrations was diminished after breakfast compared with dinner, the scientists said.

Eating a low-calorie breakfast increased appetite, specifically for sweets, they added.

"We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases," Richter said.

Blood pressure and its link to menopause

Increasing age and declining metabolism mostly leads to women becoming less active. This coupled with weight gain contributes to high blood pressure leading to heart diseases.

Menopause is the biological process of the end of the menstrual cycle of a woman. It occurs due to a natural decline in reproductive hormones when a woman reaches her 40s or 50s. Menopause leads to hormonal and biological changes in the body including weight gain and hot flashes. Alongside these, it also raises the risk of heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart rhythm) and high blood pressure.

Menopause, a heart disease risk

The level of estrogen, the hormone which plays a crucial role in overall health, declines following menopause. Low estrogen levels impact the flow of blood and the heart needs to pump harder to ensure proper blood circulation, leading to increased blood pressure. This in turn strains the heart.

Increasing age and declining metabolism mostly leads to women becoming less active. This coupled with weight gain contributes to high blood pressure leading to heart diseases.

Apart from this, menopausal women are sensitive to salt and excessive sodium in the body can lead to water retention, thereby creating pressure on the blood vessels.

Warning signs of high blood pressure in menopausal women

Following symptoms should not be ignored in menopausal women as they may be an indication of high blood pressure:

Palpitations in the heart

Family history of heart disease

Shortness of breath

Heaviness in the chest

Headache

Lightheadedness or dizziness

Diabetic or high cholesterol levels

Obstructive sleep apnea (sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts)

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