It could be the key to losing weight while also keeping blood sugar levels steady, researchers at Lübeck University in Germany said. Their study found filling up in the morning boosts a metabolism (新陈代谢) process known as diet-induced thermogenesis(DIT). DIT refers to the number of calories the body expends to heat the body and digest food. It was shown to be twice as high for those who ate more at breakfast than at dinner. On the other hand, a low-calorie breakfast increases appetite(食欲), especially for sweets, the researchers admitted.

The findings published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism were based on a laboratory experiment of 16 men. They consumed a low and high calorie breakfast and dinner one day—and then vice versa (反过来) on another. The study also showed increases in blood sugar and insulin concentrations, caused by eating a meal, was reduced after breakfast, but not so much after dinner. The results also showed eating a low-calorie breakfast caused sweet desires with a higher appetite. This suggests those saving all their calories for the end of the day may face consequences because they snack more.

The study adds to increasing evidence that the best way of losing weight is to eat your largest meal in the morning—and your smallest in the evening. Dr Richter, a neurobiologist at Lübeck University, said, “Eating more at breakfast instead of dinner could prevent obesity(肥胖) and high blood sugar.” Both obesity and high blood sugar can lead to many life-threatening illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Previous research has shown DIT is lower in people with obesity. It’s seen as a measure of how well our metabolism is working.

DIT can differ depending on mealtime and is generally slower in the evening and at night due to our body clocks. Dr Richter said, “We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases.”

Professor Daniela Jakubowicz, author of The Big Breakfast Diet, found that those who piled on the calories in the morning were more likely to feel satisfied, preventing snacking throughout the day. And another study by Professor Jakubowicz found that eating chocolate in the morning, when our metabolism is at its highest, prevented desires for sweet things later on.

Fast food chains have tried for years to appeal to customers who care about their health. They have added lighter food to their menus, such as salads and yogurt. Of course, the lighter food goes with the usual burgers, fried chicken and shakes.

Menus have changed over the past three decades. According to a recent study, fast food menus are less healthy than they were 30 years ago. The study suggests the problem is getting worse. The fat, salt content and size of fast food meals are the problem. They are often the reason for the rising obesity (肥胖) rate among adults in the United States. The researchers found that the average main dish weighed more in 2016 than in 1986. It also had more calories and more sodium (钠). One expert said, “The restaurants have not done enough. The big picture is that there have been some positive changes, but they are small. Overall, the changes have gotten worse.”

The average fast food dessert had more calories in 2016. It also weighed more than the average fast food dessert thirty years earlier. Restaurants are counting on bigger sundaes and cookies to increase the amount spent on each order. For example, McDonald’s recently introduced “donut sticks” dusted with sugar. Six sticks have 280 calories. But you can also order 12 sticks for less than the cost of two single orders.

The researchers found that, over the 30 years, there were more calories in items like chips, soup, and French fries. Sodium content rose even though portion(一份) size did not grow much. When consumed together as a single meal, the study found that the average main dish and side order account for nearly 40 percent of a 2000-calory daily diet.

Growing up in a Jamaican-American household, food was an important part of my childhood. I remember my grandmother preparing fried dumplings and curry mutton, jazz music playing in the background. Food was our greatest treasure. Food brought the family together. Food celebrated new beginnings and eased the wounds of life’s untimely endings.

When I was 8, I was diagnosed with a muscle disease, which caused me to spend most of my childhood in hospital rooms and wheelchairs, slowly gaining weight by swallowing prednisone (肾上腺皮质激素) hidden inside mint chocolate chip ice cream. My mom made it her duty to help me lose the weight through strict dieting. I’ve tried every single one. In fairness, my mother did the best she could. As a single mom, she felt this brought us closer. However, as an adult, I began to experience a paralyzing fear of food. My “I’ll start a new diet on Monday” mind-set lasted for 16 years as I uncontrollably ate and abused my body. I was worried that I was not attractive enough. So obsessed and afraid no one would hire me as an actress if I didn’t win the battle with the numbers on the scale, in February 2011 I attempted suicide and landed in the hospital for multiple days.

We do extreme things to our bodies because of those numbers. Numbers that cannot talk with us or love us. I have had to stop judging my belly, stop starving myself, stop getting on the scale and staring at those numbers. I have come to the realization that my life is more important than those numbers on the scale and that the quality of the life I live is more important than how I look in the mirror.