The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, found when people ate eggs and lean Canadian bacon, they had a greater sense of sustained fullness throughout the day compared to when more protein was eaten at lunch or dinner.

"There is a growing body of research which supports eating high-quality protein foods when dieting to maintain a sense of fullness," the study author Wayne Campbell of Purdue University said in a statement. "This study is particularly unique in that it looked at the timing of protein intake and reveals that when you consume more protein may be a critical piece of the equation."

The study included overweight or obese men who ate a reduced calorie diet. The diet consisted of two variations of protein intakes, both which were within federal nutrition recommendations: normal protein intake -- 11 percent to 14 percent of calories, or increased protein -- 18 percent to 25 percent of calories.