Trying to shed some unwanted pounds? Skip the cereal and have eggs for breakfast instead -- new research shows you may wind up eating less later on.

In a small study conducted by Nikhil Dhurandhar, PhD, an associate professor in the department of infection and obesity at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, participants who ate eggs took longer to show signs of hunger than those who ate cereal.

During the three hours between breakfast and lunch, egg-eaters in the study had lower amounts of ghrelin, a hunger-stimulating hormone, and higher amounts of PYY3-36, a hormone that signals fullness.

Scientists believe the protein in eggs may make us feel fuller longer than the protein in wheat, and that focusing on the type of proteins we eat could be a good way to control our weight.

"This study shows that diets with higher protein quality may enhance satiety, leading to better compliance and success of a weight loss diet," Dhurandhar said, adding, "Long-term weight loss trials to compare the manipulation of protein quality without increasing protein quantity should be explored."

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