Posted on July 19, 2018 by Emily Forbes

(sung) How do you like your eggs in the morning? Maybe you don’t like eggs? Maybe you don’t like to eat anything in the morning? Do you eat breakfast because you think you should or because you want to? Have you been told it’s the most important meal of the day and that it will kick start your metabolism? The big question you may actually ask is “Should you eat breakfast”? Here to set the record straight, the truth about whether to breakfast or not to breakfast.

Breakfast truths:

  • Much of the research supporting breakfast eating is funded by breakfast cereal companies which creates a bias.
  • The research also shows that breakfast eaters tend to have greater health seeking behaviours compared to breakfast skippers who generally have poorer lifestyles. Overall breakfast skippers drink more alcohol and sugar sweetened beverages, smoke more and eat less fruit and vegetables.
  • In light of breakfast skippers having more unhealthy lifestyles, eating a sugar loaded cereal which is fortified with nutrients, is actually more nutritious than other junk food they may be consuming.
  • The evidence doesn’t support breakfast “kick starting your metabolism”. Being active and increasing aerobic and resistance training is a better way to increase calorie burning.
  • If you are a non-breakfast eater, by being told to eat breakfast you may inadvertently be adding extra calories to your diet which could hinder weight loss.
  • Removing breakfast and following an intermittent fasting/ windowed eating approach may help you to cut calories and lose weight. Windowed eating is where you eat between a timed window in the day eg. between 12pm-8pm. Intermittent fasting can also have other beneficial effects like improved insulin sensitivity.
  • A lot of government body guidelines on breakfast can be misleading. But breakfast can support a healthy weight if it is eaten as an alternative to energy dense snacks and overall daily energy intake is not increased.
  • Guidelines recommend eating a carbohydrate based breakfast but in terms of weight loss a high protein breakfast would probably be a better option (again, how do you like your eggs in the morning).

Verdict

Should you eat Breakfast? Basically, only eat breakfast if you want to. In terms of weight loss, it is the TOTAL AMOUNT OF CALORIES you consume that affects this. If you want to lose weight you have to be in a calorie DEFICIT and despite what you may have been told, skipping breakfast is one way to do this. Just make sure that you don’t raid the vending machine when you get peckish at 11am.