Is skipping breakfast really that bad for you?

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Replies

  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    I choose to eat breakfast because (as someone already stated) I want to begin burning calories first thing in the morning. I would rather have my metabolism running in high gear, than slowing down because I have not eaten...

    eating breakfast or skipping breakfast does not affect your metabolism ( it takes days of under eating or over eating) and you are constantly burning calories (if you are alive)
  • SusanLovesToEat
    SusanLovesToEat Posts: 213 Member
    It is just that your metabolism will start when you start eating food. Because of thermogenesis you will burn more or less calories a day, according to what or if you ate.

    So, if you skip breakfast you will burn less, so you'll need less calories a day, which can be a difference of 200-300. But if you don't get more hungry during the day because you didn't have breakfast, I guess it is not that bad.

    This doesn't seem to jive with the current research on the benefits of intermittent fasting.

    [BTW-I don't eat breakfast-never have, ever. If I get hungry before lunch at 1pm then I eat a piece of fruit.]
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
    It is just that your metabolism will start when you start eating food. Because of thermogenesis you will burn more or less calories a day, according to what or if you ate.

    So, if you skip breakfast you will burn less, so you'll need less calories a day, which can be a difference of 200-300. But if you don't get more hungry during the day because you didn't have breakfast, I guess it is not that bad.
    I do not believe this whatsoever.

    Well, then try measuring your metabolism with Fitmate. There is a difference in restmetabolism if you ate or didn't.

    No.

    Outside of your anecdotal evidence present anything that shows that metabolic rate is improved with higher meal frequency or more specifically eating as soon as you wake up.

    There is none.

    As has already been said you can "break fast" at any time of the day be it 6am, 9am, 1pm or whatever, provided you eat the same amount there will be no difference. the thermic effect of the food you would have eaten for breakfast is simply delayed until later.
  • altacosturabeth
    altacosturabeth Posts: 62 Member
    I'd just like to add my little opinion on the whole metabolism thing here! I've not really read all that much about metabolism but I figured it worked something like this;

    Say, my diet consisted of 24 eggs a day (obviously, totally hypothetical) it wouldn't make all that much of a difference if I ate 2 of those eggs every hour (until they ran out) or whether I ate all 24 of those eggs at 2pm in the afternoon. I'd still be getting the 24 eggs, I'd just either be eating them all at once (possibly making my metabolism work a little quicker?) or having gaps in between eating them (possibly making my metabolism not work as quickly as I would if I ate all the eggs at once, but it's still working).

    I'm probably completely wrong here but that's just what my brain has told me to think! I'll add I'm awful at any kind of scientific work which is why I've probably got it all wrong :')
  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
    For me it is, if I dont eat breakfast by 10am I was running to the chocolate machine.
  • Nurturegirl
    Nurturegirl Posts: 82 Member
    I don't know if skipping breakfast is bad but I would struggle without it in the morning. My last meal is normally around 6.00pm, so by 7.00 am I definitely feel hungry. If I skipped breakfast, I would definitely end up having a sugary or fatty quick fix at work.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I only eat breakfast (or any other meal for that matter) when I am hungry.
  • Nvertommen
    Nvertommen Posts: 27
    It is just that your metabolism will start when you start eating food. Because of thermogenesis you will burn more or less calories a day, according to what or if you ate.

    So, if you skip breakfast you will burn less, so you'll need less calories a day, which can be a difference of 200-300. But if you don't get more hungry during the day because you didn't have breakfast, I guess it is not that bad.
    I do not believe this whatsoever.

    Well, then try measuring your metabolism with Fitmate. There is a difference in restmetabolism if you ate or didn't.

    No.

    Outside of your anecdotal evidence present anything that shows that metabolic rate is improved with higher meal frequency or more specifically eating as soon as you wake up.

    There is none.

    As has already been said you can "break fast" at any time of the day be it 6am, 9am, 1pm or whatever, provided you eat the same amount there will be no difference. the thermic effect of the food you would have eaten for breakfast is simply delayed until later.

    http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/244/1/E45.short

    So, after a meal the EE increases with 14-16%. Quite a lot. You are saying there is no difference in burning 14-16% all day long because after every meal you will, or having the EE like this after one huge meal? You think one huge meal takes 24hrs to process?
  • Nvertommen
    Nvertommen Posts: 27
    In other words: to keep yourself warm in the house, you use heating. So if you put it a bit higher all day long, or just put it REALLY high for a couple of hours, doesnt have a difference, you will feel as warm/cold as you do all day?
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member

    http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/244/1/E45.short

    So, after a meal the EE increases with 14-16%. Quite a lot. You are saying there is no difference in burning 14-16% all day long because after every meal you will, or having the EE like this after one huge meal? You think one huge meal takes 24hrs to process?

    If calories are kept equal it makes little to no difference:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    Really, the question is "does eating breakfast cause you to eat more overall during the day than not eating it?" There is no magic in eating in the morning, not eating in the evening, purposefully skipping meals etc other than that which promotes dietary adherence.

    It's quite simple: find the way which keeps you at a calorie deficit the easiest and stick to it.

    Job done.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator

    http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/244/1/E45.short

    So, after a meal the EE increases with 14-16%. Quite a lot. You are saying there is no difference in burning 14-16% all day long because after every meal you will, or having the EE like this after one huge meal? You think one huge meal takes 24hrs to process?

    If calories are kept equal it makes little to no difference:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    Really, the question is "does eating breakfast cause you to eat more overall during the day than not eating it?" There is no magic in eating in the morning, not eating in the evening, purposefully skipping meals etc other than that which promotes dietary adherence.

    It's quite simple: find the way which keeps you at a calorie deficit the easiest and stick to it.

    Job done.

    And to add more on this

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985


    "We conclude that increasing MF [meal frequency] does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study."
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I skip breakfast most days. I have found that if I eat breakfast early, I will always go over on my calories as I am an evening snacker. It's just easier to skip it and then I eat my first meal around 11am. The only time I will eat breakfast is if I know I won't be able to eat again until late afternoon.
  • tausha_k
    tausha_k Posts: 53
    bump
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member

    http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/244/1/E45.short

    So, after a meal the EE increases with 14-16%. Quite a lot. You are saying there is no difference in burning 14-16% all day long because after every meal you will, or having the EE like this after one huge meal? You think one huge meal takes 24hrs to process?

    If calories are kept equal it makes little to no difference:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    Really, the question is "does eating breakfast cause you to eat more overall during the day than not eating it?" There is no magic in eating in the morning, not eating in the evening, purposefully skipping meals etc other than that which promotes dietary adherence.

    It's quite simple: find the way which keeps you at a calorie deficit the easiest and stick to it.

    Job done.

    ^ That, all of it.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/pdf/postmedj00315-0056.pdf

    This defies all mfp forum logic
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    For clarificaiton, what constitutes breakfast and when must it be eaten?
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
    I don't really do breakfast, but have been forcing myself for the past few days
    .
    I quite like hitting the gym 1st thing and having a protein shake and a coffee afterwards.... But in an effort to up my calorie intake I've started eating whole grain wheat cereals too. It's a bit of a chore, but i'm going to give it a couple of weeks and see how i feel about continuing it.
  • altacosturabeth
    altacosturabeth Posts: 62 Member
    For clarificaiton, what constitutes breakfast and when must it be eaten?

    For me, I tried everything to get over this hunger. Such random things include scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs and 2 Quorn sausages, scrambled eggs and a Quorn frankfurter, porridge, toast, fruit, yoghurt, any other general foods that I decided could be made into a breakfast. More recently I tried a bagel and an english muffin for breakfast or just two English muffins.

    But it's always been that way. Even when I was younger I'd be the same so I don't think it's what I'm eating.

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