Is breakfast still the most important meal?

ChristinaK69

Some days I don't eat breakfast because I'm busy or not hungry...other days I eat like a horse. I just go with what I want to do. Tired of listening to everyone telling me otherwise

NavyKnightAh13

bumping

RunHardBeStrong

No.

Eat when you're hungry. Eat when you feel you need the energy. Eat in a way that if you need food at night because you work out in the evenings, you can have it. Meal timing is irrelevant, and the only reason people tout the power of breakfast is because there is CORRELATION (not causation!) between a large number of people eating breakfast and not overeating/feeling fuller the rest of the day.

Eating breakfast does not jump start your metabolism. Skipping breakfast does not put you into starvation mode. Eat when you want.

This goes against everything I have ever read. Are there any medical studies to back this up or is this just personal opinion? Not trying to be rude... just trying to get all of the facts.

I would ask you if you've got any relevant research that suggests that breakfast starts your metabolism. That would be the statement to prove, IMO.

But since you asked, I'll pubmed ninja a bit


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
"Although some short-term studies suggest that the thermic effect of feeding is higher when an isoenergetic test load is divided into multiple small meals, other studies refute this, and most are neutral. More importantly, studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24 h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging. Finally, with the exception of a single study, there is no evidence that weight loss on hypoenergetic regimens is altered by meal frequency. We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985
"We conclude that increasing MF does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837292
"Resting energy expenditure increases in early starvation"

Note that I'm certainly not advocating starvation. Just pointing this out since the common myth seems to be that skipping meals slows your metabolism.

Beat me to it.

I like this one as well, as it explains why some people tend to eat MORE if they eat breakfast: http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html

And, from the opposing team, here's WebMD arguing for breakfast. If you read through it, you'll notice the study is entirely correlation: people skipped breakfast, people were hungry, people ate more. However, they offer no solid reason OTHER than this correlation as to why people should eat breakfast.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/most-important-meal

It was the Leangains study that got me looking into IF. It has done wonders for my binges. For me if I eat breakfast within a few hours of waking I am ravenous the rest of the day. I hold out till lunch and I do great. Stay with in my allowances and no more late night binges. In the end you do what benefits you!

Danny_Boy13

No.

Eat when you're hungry. Eat when you feel you need the energy. Eat in a way that if you need food at night because you work out in the evenings, you can have it. Meal timing is irrelevant, and the only reason people tout the power of breakfast is because there is CORRELATION (not causation!) between a large number of people eating breakfast and not overeating/feeling fuller the rest of the day.

Eating breakfast does not jump start your metabolism. Skipping breakfast does not put you into starvation mode. Eat when you want.

This goes against everything I have ever read. Are there any medical studies to back this up or is this just personal opinion? Not trying to be rude... just trying to get all of the facts.

I would ask you if you've got any relevant research that suggests that breakfast starts your metabolism. That would be the statement to prove, IMO.

But since you asked, I'll pubmed ninja a bit


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
"Although some short-term studies suggest that the thermic effect of feeding is higher when an isoenergetic test load is divided into multiple small meals, other studies refute this, and most are neutral. More importantly, studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24 h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging. Finally, with the exception of a single study, there is no evidence that weight loss on hypoenergetic regimens is altered by meal frequency. We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985
"We conclude that increasing MF does not promote greater body weight loss under the conditions described in the present study."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837292
"Resting energy expenditure increases in early starvation"

Note that I'm certainly not advocating starvation. Just pointing this out since the common myth seems to be that skipping meals slows your metabolism.

Great info.... Love it. I should have deleted the whole increasing metabolism / starvation part. That I have never heard about that or even agree with it, but eating when the need of hungry / need energy I have not heard of or skipping breakfast is ok for healthy body chemical levels. I will find my information and post below in another post since it is a lot. I obtained it from my university library which also has the works cited information if anyone has the need to dig further.

nicolamoonbrains

I never used to eat breakfast, I decided to start trying and now I eat breakfast but don't eat any lunch lol I just can't eat both! I do nibble though on nuts and healthy snacks and graze all day until dinner that works for me its just about finding what feels good for you!!!

lithezebra

A big breakfast with protein works for me. Sometimes I forget to eat until about 3 in the afternoon. It might have something to do with the fact that I don't eat much, if at all, after 6pm. I wake up wanting food.

Danny_Boy13

Here is the info from a medical study from a few professors at Purdue University. While there is no definitive answer to either side I of course sway to the side of maintaining constant energy levels. I obtained this from my university dbase so I can not just do a simple cut and paste of the link for the study. There are tons of studies, most geared and performed for children ages 5-18, but this is the one I used in a research paper I did back in the day. This is not the entire article (since it is very large and talks about more then just skipping breakfast:

Breakfast skipping
Lastly, Mark Pereira (16) reviewed studies on breakfast skipping in both adults and children. Data from cross-sectional studies show consistently that skipping breakfast is associated with excess body weight and markers of insulin resistance. However, as discussed by McCrory (2) in this symposium, it is possible that the inverse association could be due to underreporting of energy intake, because there is some evidence to suggest that both breakfast and snacks are Underreported. Therefore, prospective and experimental studies on the role of breakfast skipping in obesity and chronic disease risk are needed. In addition, the nutritional quality of breakfast macronutrient composition needs to be considered. Breakfast meals higher in fiber and whole grains may assist with daily appetite control and prevent weight gain. In children and adults, pilot experimental studies conducted by Pereira 's group on breakfast frequency and quality showed that breakfasts higher in whole grains and fiber had positive influences on appetite control, insulin resistance, and mood relative to breakfasts containing primarily refined grains or skipping breakfast (water condition). This research is currently being expanded on a larger scale and provides important preliminary evidence that a nutritious breakfast meal is a key factor in promoting healthy body weight, chronic disease risk reduction, and positive mental health.

2. McCrory MA, Howarth NC, Roberts SB, Huang TT-K. Eating frequency and energy regulation in free-living subjects consuming selfselected diets. J Nutr. 2011;141:148-53.

16. Pereira M, Erickson E, McKee P, Schrankler K, Raarz S, Lytle LA, Pellegrini A. Breakfast frequency and quality may affect glycemia and appetite in adults and children, j Nutr. 2011;141:163-8.

Danny_Boy13

Here is another that I came across:

The association between eating breakfast and body weight has been explored in cross-sectional studies and in several small prospective cohort studies. In a 5-year prospective study, investigators in Minnesota examined the association between breakfast eating patterns on self-reported BMI and weight changes in 2216 adolescents (55% girls, 63% white) at the mean age of 15 and again at 19.

In cross-sectional analyses, adolescents who ate breakfast daily had lower BMIs than those who never or intermittently ate breakfast. In prospective analyses, the inverse association between breakfast frequency at age 19 and change in BMI from age 15 (adjusted for BMI and breakfast frequency at age 15) was significant (5-year increase in BMI, 1.6 kg/m 2 among daily breakfast eaters vs. 2.0 and 2.2 among intermittent and never-eaters, respectively). In analyses that adjusted for dietary, psychosocial, and other confounding variables, the relation between breakfast frequency and BMI change was similar but did not reach statistical significance.

Comment: These results indicate that missing breakfast is associated with weight gain, although the loss of statistical significance after adjustment for other variables suggests some uncertainty about the strength of this association. My mother always told me that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. As a child, I never believed her. As a parent, I now tell my children the same thing.

Credit: Howard Bauchner, MD

References
Timlin MT et al. Breakfast eating and weight change in a 5-year prospective analysis of adolescents: Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Pediatrics 2008 Mar; 121:e638.

SideSteel

^ The issue here is that these are correlative studies. In an environment where intake is not under specific controls, it's reasonable to suggest that skipping breakfast could result in overconsumption of calories.

In MFP, we are controlling energy intake and consequently, if one were to continually overeat due to skipping breakfast, they'd be well aware of it.

This is also why, at least when I am giving my opinion, I am very clear to state that skipping breakfast is fine if you behave and function fine, and if you are able to meet your caloric/nutrient needs by end of day.

Danny_Boy13

I like this one as well, as it explains why some people tend to eat MORE if they eat breakfast: http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html

I have not read all of this but interesting read...will have to bookmark this for later. Thanks.

Danny_Boy13

I am very clear to state that skipping breakfast is fine if you behave and function fine, and if you are able to meet your caloric/nutrient needs by end of day.

Excellent point, but would you agree with that statement that if one were to do that in say one sitting. If one were on say a 2500cal / day diet it would be ok to eat all of that in one sitting? I know that you did not say that but I read on another post that statement.

ninerbuff

Most health and fitness studies show that it is. We have just awoke from at least 6hrs of sleep and usually it is a few hours before we go to sleep that most eat some kind of dinner. So that is 8+ hours of the body not getting anything put into the gas tank. It is not to say that right as soon as we awake we consume food but usually within an hour or two it is recommended. This is not to say that one could not see results by skipping breakfast but typically one can see the best results by eating properly in the morning.

No, they correlate that people who are overweight usually aren't breakfast eaters.

All meals are the most important in the day.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SideSteel

I am very clear to state that skipping breakfast is fine if you behave and function fine, and if you are able to meet your caloric/nutrient needs by end of day.

Excellent point, but would you agree with that statement that if one were to do that in say one sitting. If one were on say a 2500cal / day diet it would be ok to eat all of that in one sitting?

I'm not aware of anything that would suggest that it's detrimental to do so.

If an individual prefers to eat that way, and they don't have digestive discomfort or gym performance issues then I don't see any immediate problems with it strictly from a fat loss perspective.

I'm assuming here that in this example, we're talking about someone who is adequately nourishing themselves and eating the appropriate caloric total for their goals/etc.

EDIT: This isn't proof of anything, but I would have to imagine that at some point in evolution, we were eating at a much lower frequency than we are today due to food availability.