Research paper
Dhurandhar EJ, Dawson J, Alcorn A, Larsen LH, Thomas EA, Cardel M, Bourland AC, Astrup A, St-Onge MP, Hill JO, Apovian CM, Shikany JM, Allison DB. The effectiveness of breakfast recommendations on weight loss: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Aug;100(2):507-13. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.089573. PMID: 24898236.
Why we cite it
The authors’ own description — “this is the largest RCT designed to determine the effectiveness of” recommending breakfast eating or skipping for weight loss — the authors add that ”The large sample size and multiple sites ensure both adequate power and reasonable generalizability”, on a question where ”there is little causal evidence”. It challenges the common advice that “eating breakfast helps you lose weight,” finding that the recommendation ”was effective at changing self-reported breakfast eating habits, but contrary to widely espoused views this had no discernable effect on weight loss in free-living adults who were attempting to lose weight”.
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