Big Breakfast, Smaller Dinner May Be The Recipe For Blood Sugar Control

Eating a high-energy breakfast but a low-energy dinner could help to improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, reports a new study published in Diabetologia.

Consuming more calories earlier in the day and fewer in the evening led to 20 percent lower post-meal glucose levels, researchers found.

"These observations suggest that a change in meal timing influences the overall daily rhythm of post-meal insulin and incretin and results in a substantial reduction in the daily post-meal glucose levels," said study co-author Oren Froy, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Same meals, different timing

For the study, two groups of participants ate either a "B" diet or a "D" diet. The B diet included about 703 calories at breakfast, 602 calories at lunch and 204 calories at dinner. The D diet included a reverse eating plan of 204 calories at breakfast, 602 calories at lunch and 703 calories at dinner. Both groups ate the same meals, which included mostly low-carb options like tuna, scrambled eggs, yogurt, salad, and turkey breast.

Not only was post-meal glucose lower in the B-diet participants, but levels of insulin, C-peptide and GLP-1 were 20 percent higher in B-diet eaters, too.

The findings may be linked to the idea that insulin sensitivity is naturally higher in the morning, which can lead to better cell responsiveness to a higher-energy breakfast, said co-author Daniela Jakubowicz, from Wolfson Medical Center.

"This dietary adjustment may have a therapeutic advantage for the achievement of optimal metabolic control and may have the potential for being preventive for cardiovascular and other complications of type 2 diabetes," Jakubowicz said.

Source:
EurekAlert!