Is Breakfast the most important meal of the day? Lately, I have been questioning the received wisdom of ‘breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and supper like a pauper’ (or whatever variation on this you happen to know). The breakfast phenomenon probably started in Neolithic times when agriculture became more organised and labourers would need some calories before beginning their long day in the fields. It is unlikely that their hunter gatherer forebears would have had a meal on waking because they would have been unlikely to have food lying around and the effort of starting a fire and feeding everyone would possibly have been left till later in the day. However, our lifestyles and needs now, are different than they were even 50 years ago so we should revisit and re-evaluate these recommendations from time to time. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that breakfast is a serious business for many with both Nestle and Kellog’s appearing in the top 12 of the highest ranking food companies in the US. The industry is huge and as with many things, our education about how important breakfast is, is mainly fed to us through their information channels and adverts in the form of public health bulletins. A recent radio ad I heard suggesting that chocolate Cheerios are actually a healthy breakfast for your child, just shows us what these people are able to say! The main reasons given for eating breakfast are: • It boosts your metabolism and helps you lose weight – this advice does not take into account what people actually eat for breakfast – commercial cereals will NOT boost metabolism and are more likely to encourage you to eat more calories throughout the day. They are also a dead, highly processed food. I couldn’t find any evidence that this claim for an increased metabolic rate has been proven. In fact, many studies show that eating breakfast actually increases caloric intake throughout the day, rather than decreases it, as is commonly thought. • It helps brain function – again, this is not true if it is a sugary, carb-based breakfast. These are more likely to cause anxiety and brain fog later in the morning and also inform your food choices for the day. • It helps you meet your nutritional needs for the day – again, same argument as above. You can also meet your nutritional needs by making sure you eat good quality, real food throughout the day – it doesn’t have to be breakfast. • Not eating breakfast leads to a blood sugar low which encourages you to eat sugary, convenience snacks. This is true but only if you are unprepared. If you do not eat breakfast, make sure you take a protein based snack to have when you feel you need to eat. If you do not allow yourself to get ravenous, you will not reach for the nearest sugar-based snack. It is all about planning and experimenting and paying heed to your own signals as they arise. So, if the arguments for eating breakfast do not stand up to scrutiny, what are the arguments against? • Studies show that calories remain the same throughout the day, regardless of whether breakfast is eaten. This means that a big breakfast just adds more calories to your normal day. • Most breakfasts are actually more like desserts. They are carbohydrate heavy which sets you up to have blood sugar swings throughout the day and means you are more likely to eat unhealthy snacks. • Some say that your liver detoxes overnight and may not finish until around 10am. Whilst I’m not sure how this is known and how it can be the same for everyone, it does make sense to me that your digestion may not be ready for a massive onslaught immediately on waking. Possibly by giving it time to ‘wake up’ naturally, we may set ourselves up for a healthier, less frantic day, and we may even then be more aware of our natural urges and feelings of hunger. • You may not feel like it! You can do whatever you want! If you don’t feel like it, it may be that it is better for you not to have it. By listening to our bodies first thing in the morning, it may mean you become more intuitive throughout the day and make better food choices. Forcing ourselves to eat at any specified time because we feel we have to, seems to me to be a little crazy. Obviously, for many people, time constraints and hectic schedules do get in the way and they may feel that tanking up before leaving the house may be the only way. This is fine – just try to make the food choices healthy (I will write a healthy breakfast post soon – watch this space …) Good nutrition and eating properly, does take a little more thought and planning than relying on convenience foods to form our meals. This cannot be denied. However, putting a bit of effort in initially, soon forms new habits and eventually, we do manage to work out our own strategies for eating and living well. The payoffs in energy and general well-being are also more than worth it. Intermittent fasting is now becoming a buzz-word in the health conscious world. It seems to be beneficial in both treating and preventing many diseases (diabetes and cancer included) as well as helping people to achieve and keep to their ideal weight. Intermittent fasting can refer to the practice of abstaining from food for 16 hours on some days (which includes overnight)– it doesn’t have to be full days of fasting or calorie restriction as with the more popular 5:2 diet. This means that you have an 8 hour window on those days during which to eat. If you eat, well sourced, preferably organic, real foods – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, etc – I believe this will improve health more than forcing down a large breakfast (which for many people will be grain or carbohydrate based). So, in conclusion I think it may be time for: The New Breakfast Manifesto: 1. Eat a healthy breakfast ONLY when YOU want to – make sure it has protein and fat in it – eggs are the perfect breakfast food – scrambled, omelette, boiled etc., as are kippers, or porridge with cream. 2. Take time to make a good breakfast when you do eat it. 3. If you do skip breakfast, have a protein based snack within 2 hours of waking up to avoid big blood sugar dives which end up with snacking on carbohydrate based snacks. Carry something with you so you are prepared. 4. Have a hot water with lemon first thing on waking (see a previous FB post on the benefits of this) 5. Try to do the intermittent fasting, as detailed above, maybe 3 or 4 days per week as see how you feel. 6. Always remember, YOU are the best judge of what suits you. You do not have to follow any guideline unless YOU think it will work for YOU. Not everything will. Watch this FB page for a healthy breakfast ideas article coming soon ……
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:23:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015