Many followers of healthy eating and lifestyle habits, myself included, get confused every so often over seemingly contradictory messages they receive from new study findings. The latest reports on the importance of a nutritious breakfast are no exception.

Two studies come to different conclusions about mealtimes

For some time now, we have been hearing that eating a healthy meal at the start of the day offers multiple benefits, including for weight control. Two recent studies on the subject, however, have come to opposite conclusions, one confirming the value of eating heartily in the morning, the other negating it. On closer examination, both studies seem to be correct in some aspects but miss the mark in others.

For one study, researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel enrolled obese women in a 1,400-calorie-per-day weight loss regimen and divided them in two groups. One half was served 50 percent of the daily allotted calories at breakfast, 36 percent at lunch, and 14 percent at dinner. The other half was made to eat in the opposite order.

After three months, the heavy breakfast eaters had lost considerably more weight, had slimmer waistlines, a lower body-mass index (BMI), and declining triglyceride, blood sugar and cholesterol levels compared to their counterparts who had their biggest meals for dinner – all despite the fact that the daily calorie intake in both groups was identical. The logical conclusion seems that it not only matters what and how much dieters eat but also when they eat.

In sharp contrast to these findings stands another recent study, this one from Cornell University, which seems to suggest that skipping breakfast may be helpful in one’s quest for weight loss. Here, researchers fed or withheld breakfast from two groups of participants but left it up to them whatever they wished to eat for the rest of the day. As it turns out, the breakfast-skippers lost more weight than those who stuck to three meals a day.

So, what is going on here? Is having breakfast a good or a bad idea for weight control? The answers to both studies are in fact quite simple.

In the study from Tel Aviv, the breakfast group had a decisive advantage over their dinner-eating peers because after eating they had the entire day ahead during which they could burn off calories. By contrast, the members of the dinner group were more likely to settle down for the evening after finishing their meals, and went to bed relatively full, without much of a chance for calorie expenditure. Naturally, that difference in behavior shows up on the scale.

Unfortunately, the Cornell study is inconclusive from the start because it does not control the total calorie intake of either group and only focuses on one eating occasion in the day. The participants who skipped breakfast may have made up for the deprivation by having a heavier lunch or by adding more snacks in between meals. Those who managed to keep to their usual eating pattern may have lost weight by foregoing breakfast, but they could have achieved the same by omitting any other eating event. The bottom line is that reducing total calorie intake will inevitably lead to weight loss over time. We already knew that.

The reason why I agree with those who emphasize the importance of having breakfast is that eating a nutritious, balanced meal in the morning gives you much needed energy and prevents you from getting too ravenous later on, which often results in overeating.

For the reasons I discussed earlier, I also believe that eating the European way – a large breakfast, a moderate lunch, and a light dinner – is preferable to our custom of making dinner the main eating occasion. I also like the breakfast styles there better, including those of the Israelis, which typically include a vast variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain breads, lean protein sources, and low-fat dairy products, instead of sugary cereals and pastries.

And let’s not forget portion sizes. They matter at all meals, regardless when you have them.

Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book “The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun”®, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com.  For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, “Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D.” (www.timigustafson.com). You can follow Timi on Twitter (twitter.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com), Google+ (plus.google.com) and on Pinterest (pinterest.com).