Is This The Most Important Meal of the Day?

Hi and welcome to this week’s look at what’s making headlines in natural health on iHealthTube.com.

You’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Now there is more research showing just what that meal can mean to your health.

A recent study analyzed 29 men and women for 3 month.  All participants were obese and had type 2 diabetes.  The subjects were assigned one of two different weight-loss diet plans consisting of an equal number of daily calories.  One group ate three meals a day… a large breakfast, medium-sized lunch and small dinner.  The second at six small, evenly spaced meals a day.

The larger breakfast group saw weight loss three times more than the six meal group and a drop in fasting blood glucose twice that of the other group.

The lead author pointed out that metabolism is different throughout the day… and that when you eat may be more important than how many calories you consume.

More research is helping show more benefits for children who are breastfed.

Research out of South Korea is showing that breastfeeding may help protect high-birthweight infants from becoming overweight as children.  Over 38 thousand participants were divided into 3 different birth-weight groups.  More than 25 percent of the high-birthweight infants later met the criteria for obesity… It was 10 and 15 percent for the low and mid-level birthweight groups.

But according to the study, the risk of becoming obese dropped significantly among that high-birthweight group if they were breastfed for the first six months of life.

Finally, it looks like there is more research backing the popular Mediterranean diet.

The diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish and is low in saturated fat, dairy and red meat.  The new study out of Brazil indicates this diet can help increase muscle mass and bone density in postmenopausal women.

Menopause brings a decline in estrogen which can speed bone loss…but the lead author said the Mediterranean diet can be a helpful non-medical strategy for those at risk for osteoporosis and fractures.

That’s what’s making headlines in natural health this week.  Go to iHealthTube.com and sign up for our free email newsletter to stay connected to the latest in natural health!