Fat for Breakfast May Deter Diabetes

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Fat for Breakfast May Deter Diabetes

 

Mouse study suggests that eating a fatty breakfast and leaner dinner

fights risk factors for heart disease and diabetes by Craig Weatherby

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Ever heard the maxim, Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince,

and dinner like a pauper? Its been attributed to health-food pioneer

Adelle Davis, but is probably a much older saying. Regardless, the

results of a study in mice suggest that this advice may help to prevent

metabolic syndrome and the diabetes and heart disease that often follow.

We all need carbs ... but timing may matterPeople need some

carbohydrates in the morning to provide a wake-up shot of glucose (blood

sugar) to the brain and muscles. But the new findings indicate that

eating fewer carbs and more fat at breakfast may help prevent metabolic

syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is said to exist when you have any three of

six different risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease

including excess abdominal fat, high blood triglyceride levels, and

glucose intolerance (i.e., insulin resistance). The study was designed

to measure the effects of two distinct diets on the development of

metabolic syndrome in mice (Bray MS et al. 2010). To test the diet, mice

were divided into two groups:

- The High-Carb Breakfast Group ate a higher-carb breakfast and a

lower-carb, higher-fat dinner

- The High-Fat Breakfast Group ate a higher-fat breakfast and a

lower-fat, higher-carb dinner Importantly, the daily diets of the two

groups contained the same number of calories and calories from fat. At

the end of the study, the High-Fat Breakfast Group had normal metabolic

profiles. In contrast, the High-Carb Breakfast Group showed signs of

metabolic syndrome, including weight gain, increased abdominal fat,

glucose intolerance and more. These differences were attributed to the

fact that, compared with the High-Carb Breakfast Group, the mice in the

High-Fat Breakfast Group were less likely to store dietary fat as

unhealthful abdominal fat, which generates chemical signals that promote

several other aspects of metabolic syndrome. The first meal you have

appears to program your metabolism for the rest of the day, said study

senior author Martin Young, Ph.D. (UAB 2010) The findings make sense

since a high-carb, low-fat breakfast would tend to trigger a spike in

blood sugar. A sharp blood-sugar spike early in the day can lead to low

blood sugar, and a consequent cycle of carb cravings and bingeing .. a

viscious circle that can yield the chronically high blood sugar levels

that virtually define diabetes. This is not to say that a breakfast

centered on whole grain cereal and fruit is unhealthful far from it.

Instead, these findings indicate that it may be better to include

substantial fat at breakfast. What can one do to put the findings into

practice?A daily breakfast of whole grain cereal or toast and fruit may

not be the healthiest possible choice. Instead, it may be healthier to

cut back on morning carbs and replace those calories with small amounts

of foods higher in fat and protein. Good choices include fish, full-fat

yogurt, cheese, nuts, lean, natural, grass-raised meats ... or a mix of

beans, veggies, and rice with a generous dash of low-omega-6 oil (e.g.,

extra virgin olive, macadamia, hi-oleic safflower/sunflower). Logically,

the very best choice for breakfast would be fatty fish [

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C439762%2Cb1h3yfLG%\

2C446607%2CbgRyT2g

], which offers perfect proportions of the three major kinds of fat:

omega-3, omega-6, and saturated. (Omega-3s possess properties that seem

to discourage weight gain and excess abdominal fat see Weight Loss

Efforts Aided by Omega-3s [

http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article001143576.cfm?x=b11,0,w

, which contains links to related reports.) Tasty options

include fresh or smoked salmon, sablefish, tuna, sardines, and mackerel.

If you like to savor some sausage in the morning, try wild salmon

patties [

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C439762%2Cb1h3yfLG%\

2C1977192%2CbgRyT2g

instead of pork, soy, or chicken products ... all of which are

high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats. Leaner dinners: A key part of the

picture What about the lean dinner eaten by the High-Fat Breakfast

Group? If you eat a higher-fat breakfast should you avoid fat at dinner?

No ... but it seems smart to eat a nightime meal focused on protein and

vegetables, and light in starches (grains, pasta, potato). And it would

be sensible to favor relatively lean proteins that are higher in

omega-3s and lower in omega-6 fats than meats and poultry are in other

words, shellfish [

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C439762%2Cb1h3yfLG%\

2C3958926%2CbgRyT2g

] and lean white fish [

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C439762%2Cb1h3yfLG%\

2C3923387%2CbgRyT2g

] such as cod, halibut, pollock, monkfish, and haddock. Study authors

explain the implicationsThe study team was led by Molly Bray, Ph.D.,

professor of epidemiology in the University of Alabama at Birmingham

(UAB) School of Public Health (Bray MS et al. 2010). As she said,

Studies have looked at the type and quantity of food intake, but nobody

has undertaken the question of whether the timing of what you eat and

when you eat it influences body weight, even though we know sleep and

altered circadian rhythms influence body weight. (UAB 2010) Bray said

the research team found that fat intake at the time of waking seems to

turn on fat metabolism very efficiently and also activated the animals

ability to respond to different types of food later in the day. When the

animals were fed carbohydrates upon waking, carbohydrate metabolism was

stimulated and seemed to remain hyperactive even when the animal was

eating different kinds of food later in the day. Study co-author Martin

Young, Ph.D., made a key point: This study suggests that if you ate a

carbohydrate-rich breakfast it would promote carbohydrate utilization

[burning] throughout the rest of the day, whereas, if you have a

fat-rich breakfast, you [would] transfer your energy utilization

[calorie burning] between carbohydrate and fat. In other words, a

high-fat breakfast programs the body to more readily burn dietary fat

for immediate energy needs. Dr. Bray said the implications of this

research are important for human dietary recommendations: if you really

want to be able to efficiently respond to mixed meals across a day then

a meal in higher fat content in the morning is a good thing. (UAB 2010)

She stressed that the animals in the High-Fat Breakfast group also ate a

low-fat, low-calorie dinner, and thinks that combination is probably one

key to the health benefits seen in those mice. Bray and Young noted the

need to test different types of dietary fats and carbohydrates to find

the optimal mix, and to try a similar test in people. As we noted above,

omega-3s possess properties that seem to discourage weight gain and

excess abdominal fat, so it would be smart to test a breakfast high in

these fish-borne fats. The Alabama team is now working on a study

designed to determine how the two feeding regimens affect heart

function. Sources

- Bray MS, Tsai JY, Villegas-Montoya C, Boland BB, Blasier Z, Egbejimi

O, Kueht M, Young ME. Time-of-day-dependent dietary fat consumption

influences multiple cardiometabolic syndrome parameters in mice. Int J

Obes (Lond). 2010 Mar 30. [Epub ahead of print]

- University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Bacon or Bagels? Higher Fat

at Breakfast May Be Healthier Than You Think, Says UAB Research. March

30, 2010. Accessed at

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/go.cfm?z=vitalchoiceseafood%2C439762%2Cb1h3yfLG%\

2C3958927%2CbgRyT2g