Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – or is it?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You heard it, I heard it, my stomach heard it too. But my stomach doesn’t care and I’m not alone. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a quarter of Americans skip breakfast.

So what do we do to ourselves? Well, that depends on who you ask.

A strong argument in favor of breakfast.

According to Dr. Emily Cooper of the Cooper Center for Metabolism, you’re doing yourself a disservice by skipping breakfast. “When people skip breakfast, a good percentage will trigger disruptions in insulin secretion,” Cooper said. In other words, low blood sugar, which can cause fatigue, brain fog, and an “exaggerated emotional response.” also known as shitty mood. Are you having a crisis? Maybe you just come Need a smoothie, Cooper thought.

People have many reasons to skip breakfast: They rush to go out the door in the morning, they don’t have reliable food accessor maybe, like me, their their circadian rhythm is such that their ghrelin – it’s the hunger hormone – only intervenes when later. Cooper doesn’t care. Skipping breakfast is a problem for his patients.

She practices what she preaches. She already had “two pieces of good local produce bakery sourdough whole grain toast with tahini and apricot jam” and enjoyed a bowl of raisins before 7 a.m. when I spoke to him. These are complex carbohydrates, protein, iron and healthy fats.

But not all breakfast choices carry this kind of halo. Sweetened and processed cereals meats, for example, provide calories but few nutrients. Despite everything, Cooper speaks ill breakfast equals no breakfast.

“If you don’t eat your fill early in the day, ghrelin levels increase later. Your body is trying to compensate for everything you have missed,” she explained.

You feel hungry, even starving, which can lead you to make poor choices. You’re likely to grab something that will give you the immediate boost you need, perhaps an iced Frappucino, extra whisk. So here you are mid-morning, loaded with calories, fizzy with caffeine and sugar, but without enough nutrients to nourish you. You are hot mess for your 3 p.m. Teams meeting.

Maintain this roller coaster pattern and studies, including one from the Cleveland Clinic, indicate that you’re looking at potential weight gain and diabetes – obesity caused by diabetes. Does this morning toast sound better to you?

The effect of breakfast on your brain cognition.

Dr AS Jonathan Rosandalso saw these studies. As co-founder of Massachusetts General’s McCance Brain Care Center and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, it is his business understand the factors that can lead to depression, stroke and dementia. Will jump is breakfast on the list?

When I spoke to Rosand, he had eaten his oats this morning but he told me it was normal that I hadn’t. He said: “I don’t know. There is a lot of evidence” between lack of breakfast and cognition. In other In other words, skipping breakfast won’t make me stupid. Unlike Cooper, he does not focus on when but what: “Get more of the things that are good for you – a diet rich in vegetables and leafy greens,” as well as other foods linked to brain health, including fatty fish, berries, nuts, rich in omega 3 and — caffeine lovers, rejoice! — coffee and tea.

Check in with yourself, advises Rosand. “How are you feeling? Are you cloudy? Clear?” If you feel fine, don’t worry.

And the young people?

But Rosand suggests that breakfast is not a bad idea for children, teenagers and anyone with health problems. Science supports him on this point. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who eat breakfast learn better in school, have fewer behavioral problems, and reverse the trend of adolescent obesity by maintaining a healthy weight.

Despite this, many of Yasi Ansari’s leadersyounger patients regularly skip breakfast. For Ansari, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist, that’s a concern. “The problem with not getting our needs met, especially during adolescence, is that it can lead to unhealthy eating habits and unhealthy relationships with food,” she said. “Failing to meet their needs during this time can also put individuals at risk of stunted growth and not being able to perform at their best in the classroom or on the field.”

But, she admits, the data is not conclusive. When working with patients, she considers other factors: “Are they meeting their nutritional needs sufficiently for the remainder of the the day? Do they take time out of their day to move around? Are they getting enough sleep? Is there a work-life balance? What do lunch and dinner foods look like? » Ansariadvises to eat “at regular intervals”, but it is equally important to “listen to what your body needs.”

Rosand agrees. “Llistening to your appetite is helpful,” he said. “A big part of who you are inclined to do for your body is probably OK.

What about intermittent fasting? Isn’t that supposed to be healthy?

And now the big IF is intermittent fasting. This food trend of the day indicates fasting, skipping meals or extending the time. between them forces your body to work more efficiently, so you use ketones and fatty acids for energy, not glucose (sugar). Most people choose to stop eating around 8 p.m. and not eat again until noon the next day, which means they skip breakfast.

Intermittent fasting isn’t proven for weight loss, but studies like this one from the New York Times English Journal of Medicine show that it can be beneficial for the body. It reduces the risk of serious illnesses, including diabetes, reduces inflammation and potentially leads to a healthier, longer life.

Do Does skipping breakfast mean you’re in the ketone club? Very probably. And this is the most common way to practice intermittent fasting. Do not do it tell Cooper. “I was never a fan,” she said. “All these types of trends that people are getting into – nothing good comes of it. This makes no metabolic sense.

What about the breakfast skippers?

If you’re part of the breakfast-skipping tribe, you’re in good company.

St. Thomas Aquinas was also not a fan of morning meals. He believed that breakfast led to gluttony, one of your seven deadly sins, and was immoral. New York Times food critic Pete Wells doesn’t think breakfast is immoral, he just doesn’t eat it. Needless to say. He tastes food – largely – for a living. This is not what he wants to do in his free time.

If you’re waiting for a talk from Dr. Marion Nestlé, an expert in nutrition and public health, guess again. Nestlé doesn’t do breakfast either. “I prefer to eat when I’m hungry, and I’m rarely hungry before 10:30 p.m. or later,” she said.

As for all those studies that talk about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, Nestlé advises reading the fine print. Who is funding the study? Money for the International Breakfast Research Initiative, a comprehensive database of breakfast habits and outcomes, came from Cereal Partners Worldwide in the United States and Canada through General Mills.

The decision is yours.

To eat breakfast or not?

“OOne of the challenges when advising people on diet is our all-or-nothing culture,” Rosand said. “That’s not how we live.”

Do you want to start eating breakfast? Great! “Make small changes over the weeks, months,” Rosand added. “Look for ways to improve. »

Are you still not convinced of the benefits of breakfast? It is good too. “The goal is to feel comfortable, to take better care of yourself,” Rosand said. “Let’s give each other a break.”

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