Research

Energy balance

In obese adults, consuming a daily breakfast (≥700 kcal before 11:00) increases morning physical activity thermogenesis compared to extended morning fasting, without causing compensatory increases in total daily energy intake.

If you are obese, eating a substantial breakfast (around 700 calories) before 11 AM may help you move more in the morning without making you eat more food later in the day. This increased morning activity does not necessarily lead to weight loss on its own, but it changes how you spend energy. Skipping breakfast does not guarantee lower total calorie intake for this population.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Breakfast resulted in greater physical activity thermogenesis during the morning than when fasting during that period (difference: 188 kcal/d; 95% CI: 40, 335) but without any consistent effect on 24-h physical activity thermogenesis... Energy intake was not significantly greater with breakfast than fasting
Enhad A. Chowdhury et al. · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2016

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with repeated measures in a specific population (obese adults), though sample size is small (n=23).

Source

The causal role of breakfast in energy balance and health: a randomized controlled trial in obese adults

Enhad A. Chowdhury et al. · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2016

DOI 10.3945/ajcn.115.122044

rct · n=23Cited 256×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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