You’ve probably heard people say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day meal of the day. Many a doctor, parent, and friend may have reminded you not to skip it, too, but sometimes, there’s just no time to eat a decent meal in the morning. However, a recent study proves that you should make the time, as having a high-protein morning meal can make you feel more full throughout the day, as well as reduce your cravings for unhealthy snacks later on.

Featured on the Huffington Post, the study split 20 overweight or obese women from ages 18 to 20 into three groups: those who had a high protein breakfast of eggs and lean beef, those who had low-protein breakfast of cereal, and those who skipped the meal altogether. The participants were monitored for six consecutive days. On the seventh day, the women were surveyed about their appetites and eating behaviors. Weight was checked, blood samples were taken, and brain activity was scanned via fMRI.

Results showed that the women who had breakfast reported feeling fuller during the day. Brain scans also noted that the chemicals responsible for food cravings were lowest in the women who had their morning meal. For women who had high-protein plates, the tendency to snack on unhealthy food was the lowest overall.

Researcher Heather Leidy of the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri says, "Eating a protein-rich breakfast impacts the drive to eat later in the day, when people are more likely to consume high-fat or high-sugar snacks. These data suggest that eating a protein-rich breakfast is one potential strategy to prevent overeating and improve diet quality by replacing unhealthy snacks with high quality breakfast foods.”

(Photo by Avid Hills via Flickr Creative Commons)