Breakfast then a workout, the key to losing weight

Anyone thinking of skipping breakfast to lose weight may want to think again.

Tucking into a filling meal in the morning ‘primes’ the body to burn carbohydrates faster, scientists have found.

But to get the benefit, you then have to do a workout.

Researchers found that having a good breakfast is better than going without because it increases the rate at which carbohydrates are burned during exercise.

They studied the effect of eating a bowl of porridge before an hour’s cycling versus fasting overnight before a workout.

The researchers, from Bath, Birmingham, Newcastle and Stirling universities, tested the blood glucose and muscle glycogen levels of 12 healthy male volunteers. Eating breakfast also raised the rate at which the group metabolised food that was eaten after the workout was over.

Dr Javier Gonzalez, from the University of Bath, said: ‘We found that, compared to skipping breakfast, eating breakfast before exercise increases the speed at which we digest and absorb and metabolise carbohydrate that we may eat after exercise.’

The study is published in American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Researchers found that having a good breakfast is better than going without because it increases the rate at which carbohydrates are burned during exercise