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Barcelona, Spain – A recent study conducted by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute has revealed that having a quality breakfast providing around a quarter of daily energy intake can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The findings, published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, emphasize the importance of breakfast in maintaining cardiovascular health.
The study followed 383 participants from the PREDIMED-Plus project, a randomized clinical trial comparing the effects of a Mediterranean diet combined with physical activity versus dietary recommendations alone on cardiovascular disease. Researchers focused on two main factors: the energy intake from breakfast relative to the total daily intake and the nutritional quality of the breakfast consumed.
Key Findings:
- Participants who consumed 20–30% of their daily energy intake at breakfast showed better outcomes for several cardiovascular risk factors over a three-year period.
- These participants had a 2–3.5% lower body mass index (BMI) and a 2–4% smaller waist circumference by the end of the study.
- Adequate energy intake at breakfast was linked to significantly lower triglyceride levels (9–18% reduction) and higher HDL cholesterol levels (4–8.5% increase).
- Participants who had a high-quality breakfast, rich in proteins, high-value fats, fiber, and minerals, had a 1.5% smaller waist circumference, 4% lower triglycerides, and 3% higher HDL cholesterol.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what and how you eat it matters,” said Álvaro Hernáez, a researcher at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and CIBER for Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV). “Our data show that quality is associated with better cardiovascular risk factor outcomes. It’s as important to have breakfast as it is to have a quality one.”
Dr. Montse Fitó, coordinator of the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and CIBER for Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), emphasized the importance of both energy adequacy and quality in preventing cardiovascular risk. “We have confirmed that dietary recommendations about food quality have been effective in improving risk factor evolution over time in adults at high cardiovascular risk,” she said.
The study concluded that promoting healthy breakfast habits can contribute to healthy aging by reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome and associated chronic diseases, thereby improving quality of life.
For more information, read the original study: Karla-Alejandra Pérez-Vega et al., Breakfast energy intake and dietary quality and trajectories of cardiometabolic risk factors in older adults, The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100406.
Journal information: The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging.
