Large breakfasts and small dinners have been shown to have a significant effect on weight loss and heart health.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University asked 93 obese and overweight women to eat only 1,400 calories a day for three months, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The women were all in their mid-40s, and had some type of metabolic disorder.
Half of the women were put in the breakfast group (BF), the other half were assigned to the dinner group (D).
The BF group was allotted 50 percent of their daily calories at breakfast, 36 at lunch, and only 14 at dinner. The D group rationed out their calories the opposite way, eating only 14 percent for breakfast and 50 for dinner.
Over the 12-week study the BF group lost an average of 19.1 pounds, the D group dropped less than half of that at 7.9. The BF group managed to reduce their waistline by 3.3 inches, the group that ate a larger dinner lost 1.5 inches. The breakfast-loving group lost 10 percent of their body mass index, once again, the D group lost only half of that.
Glucose, insulin and ghrelin (an appetite hormone) decreased in both groups. The BF group showed lower glucose and insulin responses after lunch.
Triglyceride levels, which are a strong indicator of cardiovascular health, dropped by 34 percent in the BF group, but increased by 15 percent in the Dinner group.
"Eating the right foods at the wrong times can not only slow down weight loss, it can also be harmful. Our study found those in the big dinner group actually increased fat levels in their body, despite their weight loss," Professor Daniela Jakubowicz, of Tel Aviv University, said, the Daily Mail reported.
Jakubowicz also recommended decreasing late night munching, or cutting it out altogether.
"Mindless eating in front of the computer or television, especially in the late evening hours, is a huge contributor to the obesity epidemic. It increases not only poundage, but the risk of cardiovascular disease - making that midnight sugar rush more costly than it appears," Jakubowicz said.
