Your most unrelenting cravings for sugar may come first thing in the morning. This is because your brain burns glucose — or sugar — for energy. And if you eat three square meals a day, nighttime is your longest fast.

Fight the urge to binge on sugar first thing in the morning and instead eat protein. You will more likely feel full and energized throughout the day. This means less grazing between meals on sugar-filled drinks and snacks.

Researchers found that overweight women who ate protein for breakfast five times a week for eight weeks saw 65 percent more weight loss compared to those who ate bagels for breakfast.

Protein-filled meals can reduce sugar cravings and help you lose weight.

If you choose protein-rich breakfast foods and snacks, you’ll find that excess weight quickly drops away.

For example, breakfast. The adage is true: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Eating breakfast has been linked to many health benefits:

• Improved micronutrient levels, such as vitamins and minerals
• Improved performance at school or work
• Less risk of weight gain or obesity
• Lower levels of “bad” cholesterol

This helps explain why a balanced, protein-filled breakfast can stave off sugar cravings and support weight loss.

Indeed, scientists have found that eating more protein than you would get in a cereal-based breakfast increases satiety through a constellation of hormones, such as the following:

• Ghrelin
• Insulin
• Glucagon-like peptide

Put simply, eating protein instead of sweet carbs improves blood sugar and helps you feel satisfied. If you eat a protein-rich breakfast, containing roughly 30 grams of protein, you will feel less hungry throughout the day and eat less at lunchtime.

In one study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that overweight women who ate protein for breakfast five times a week for eight weeks saw 65 percent more weight loss compared to those who ate bagels for breakfast. They were also 34 percent more likely to trim down their waistline.

But breakfast isn’t the only meal of the day that can benefit from more protein. In the United States, almost one-third of food and drinks consumed are snack foods — such as desserts, salty and fatty snacks, flavored coffee drinks and candy. These foods fill you up, but they’re a poor source of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. In 2014, University of Missouri researchers found that when young women ate a protein-rich snack, they felt less hungry during the day and ate less at dinner.

How do you incorporate more protein into your diet? Try filling 80 percent of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, cultured vegetables, and alkalizing sea vegetables. You can fill the remaining 20 percent of your plate with animal foods or grain-like seeds, both of which are high in protein. You'll start finding weight loss can be delicious and easy!