01dragonslayer
Iron Killer
Mad Referrer
Jacked Immortal
EG Auction Sniper
VIP Member
Shout Master
Mutated
Fully Loaded
- EG Cash
- 1,332,267
Dessert is often the first thing to go when trying to lose weight. But according to recent research, people who ate dessert (and chose what they would have at the beginning of the meal) consumed healthier foods and fewer calories overall than those who selected their main course first and then decided on dessert.
Moreover, additional research found eating a sweet treat with breakfast could help those following low-calorie diets maintain their weight loss. People who ate dessert with breakfast lost similar amounts of weight as those who skipped morning sweets during the 16-week study period but the former group lost an average of 15 additional pounds after the research ended while those who restricted sweets regained 22 pounds. “The more we deprive ourselves of something, the more we put it on a pedestal and obsess over it, which over time leads to binges,” says Lauren Ott, RD. “Sure dessert can be high in calories, sugar and fat but if the rest of your day is balanced, eating dessert is completely fine.”
THE SCIENCE
Researchers placed two dessert options (fresh fruit and cheesecake) at the beginning of a college cafeteria line. When students chose the higher-calorie dessert before selecting other food to consume, their meals tended to be lower in calories than those who chose a low-calorie dessert or didn’t select their dessert until the end of the cafeteria line. “Diners who picked the healthier dessert may have thought they already had done a good deed for their bodies so they deserved higher-calorie food further down the cafeteria line,” explains Martin Reimann, PhD, lead study author and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arizona.Moreover, additional research found eating a sweet treat with breakfast could help those following low-calorie diets maintain their weight loss. People who ate dessert with breakfast lost similar amounts of weight as those who skipped morning sweets during the 16-week study period but the former group lost an average of 15 additional pounds after the research ended while those who restricted sweets regained 22 pounds. “The more we deprive ourselves of something, the more we put it on a pedestal and obsess over it, which over time leads to binges,” says Lauren Ott, RD. “Sure dessert can be high in calories, sugar and fat but if the rest of your day is balanced, eating dessert is completely fine.”