Researchers have revealed what might be a highly popular new way to lose weight - eat a big breakfast. It could become the biggest diet fad ever for those wishing to shed a few kilos. Scientists in Germany conducted a study on how a hearty breakfast affected the body's metabolism in a laboratory experiment. Sixteen men ate a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner one day, and reversed this with a high-calorie breakfast and low-calorie dinner the next. Eating a larger breakfast and a smaller dinner boosted a process called diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). This is the generation of heat in the body that burns up calories. This happened even when the total calories consumed throughout the day remained the same.
Eating a big breakfast led to 2.5 times higher rates of DIT. Researcher Dr Juliane Richter spoke about the findings of her investigation. She said: "Our results show a meal eaten for breakfast, regardless of the amount of calories it contains, creates twice as high DIT as the same meal consumed for dinner. This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast." She added: "Eating more at breakfast instead of dinner could prevent obesity and high blood sugar. We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a significant breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases."
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Talk about these words from the article.
researchers / popular / lose weight / diet / fad / metabolism /
breakfast / calories / investigation / results / dinner /
significant / obesity / eating / blood sugar / healthy
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Discussion
1) What did you think when you read the headline?
2) What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'breakfast'?
3) What do you think of your weight?
4) How important is a big breakfast?
5) Have you ever been on a diet?
6) Is a big breakfast or big dinner better?
7) What is the best breakfast?
8) Do you worry about the number of calories you consume?
9) Should we eat what we want to and be happy?
10) Why are high-calorie foods so tasty?
