Breakfast With Benefits
The importance of breakfast is not a novel idea. After all, eating during the day is a human need, but the layered complexity of why it may be so important continues to surprise me.
When I see articles in my news feed or social media posts about breakfast, they tend to assert a simple catchphrase based on a single study and expressed as absolute truth, such as “breakfast burns 2.5x more calories (in everyone all the time)!” and “breakfast makes you gain weight (so there’s no reason to eat it!)”. They tend to lack nuance.
So, what are we supposed to believe?
Scroll to “Key Points for Every Day Life” if short on time, or read on to see how breakfast may help us feel energized daily and alter our health in the long term.
Eating Breakfast Based on Your Body Clock
I’d like to start with the concept that our chronotype— when we’re prone to sleep and wake—may affect when and how we eat.1
The young science called chrononutrition examines how these wake and sleep cycles may affect when we eat and how our bodies respond to food.1,2 By working with our internal clocks set to the rhythms of the day/night, we may use meal timing to our advantage.1
Our circadian rhythm is tied to internal clocks like the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) clock in the brain that controls feeding behavior and other clocks that monitor nutrients and hormones.(abdi, flan) They sense when and what we eat to optimize the use of nutrients and regulate hunger hormones, blood sugar response, and decision making around food.1,2
Because of this, some research suggests that consuming most of our food earlier in the day has better metabolic outcomes than eating most of our food at night.2 Simply put, the body may be designed to need more food earlier in the day.2
A possible culprit of mixed-up biological signaling and timing is skipping breakfast.2 Breakfast, or at least getting enough of it, can be a huge feat on a busy morning and is often an emotional topic. Many barriers can exist between people and a morning meal in our modern world because of a lack of time, a long commute, a challenging relationship with food, or the high cost of groceries. However, understanding how breakfast may have the potential to set the energetic tone for the rest of the day can help determine if it may be right for you.
How Does Breakfast Affect Metabolism?
The most trending reason people are into breakfast lately is for the release of weight. One often cited example is a small study that revealed diet-induced thermogenesis (i.e., the energy/calories burned from eating) of breakfast was 2.5x more efficient in men than at dinner.3 The study found that skipping breakfast can also lead to sugar cravings later in the day.3 It’s possible that eating a balanced breakfast may affect your metabolism later at lunch, leading to better blood sugar response and increased glucose uptake into muscles (as opposed to being shuffled off for fat storage).2
At night, metabolic physiology is different, as the body may be better at storing energy from big dinners and evening snacks.2 Skipping breakfast is associated with more abdominal fat.4 And skipping it even once a week may have cardio-metabolic consequences.4 While metabolism, blood sugar regulation, and self-control may all be higher in the morning and decline as the sun moves across the sky,2 much research shows that simply eating breakfast, in general, does not lead to weight loss.5
Unfortunately, in some of these studies, the quantity and/or quality of breakfast does not come into play and a serving of cereal added daily with no other dietary changes is not the be-all-end-all of evidence against breakfast.5
What Type of Breakfast Is Best to Eat?
Meal composition is important. The key is getting enough of the big nutrients like protein to keep you sustained.6 Protein is often the star of big-breakfast advocates due to its potential to help release weight, and some research supports this. Higher protein in the morning may lead to increased satiety (in part by taming the hunger hormone ghrelin).7 It may also lead to reduced food cravings later in the day and less snacking at night when willpower is down.(protein)6
Also, there is a higher thermic effect of protein compared to fats and carbs, meaning you can burn around 30% of protein calories during digestion as opposed to 5-15% (which may be due more to the amount we need to chew protein as opposed to the amount of protein, so chew chew chew!).7,8
Don’t forget about the co-stars fiber and fat, or our little but mighty vitamins and minerals. Balance is always key. Including a whole grain, healthy fat, and fruit or vegetable is usually a good idea, along with water to transport nutrients. Focusing on breakfast in a balanced way can mean adding fun and tasty foods while increasing the overall nutrient density of vitamins and minerals instead of focusing on energy restriction and what we need to take away later.
What Are Some Other Benefits of Breakfast?
While the release of weight may not ultimately increase by having any old breakfast, this is not the focus of morning fuel in my practice or personal life. The real key is that getting enough nutrients early in the day can help people feel good. Life is stressful enough, but a study on women revealed skipping breakfast may increase the stress hormone cortisol because the body thinks there is food scarcity.9
This stress hormone makes sugar from your body as energy to deal with the stress, raising blood sugar levels.9 Missing out on this early meal may raise blood pressure, lower motivation, energy, and cognitive function, and impact mood.9,10,11 When you become ravenous later in the day, you may eat too fast and experience digestive discomfort.12 Also, you may eat more than you need, raise blood sugar too fast, or potentially elevate your blood pressure.8 So, when you feel too overwhelmed and rushed to even think about eating, it may be even more important to get creative and schedule a pause long enough to get fueled up with a healthy breakfast (aside from just a cup of coffee!).
Key Points for Daily Life:
Research is still rolling in, but rather than focusing solely on the trend that breakfast may alter the release of weight, think of breakfast as a morning tool to improve energy, focus, and mood as you go about your day.
Balance is key, but start with protein. The amount of protein needed varies from person to person, so I don’t like to make a blanket claim, but the goal is usually 15-25 grams for breakfast.
Look to add fiber from whole grains and vegetables or fruit, followed by healthy fat (such as nut butter, seeds, and salmon).
Food choices are best determined by personal, cultural, and financial needs, not by a one-list-fits-all approach. You may choose to think outside your typical breakfast box: nut-butter & berry oatmeal, tofu veggie scramble, kimchi toast with egg, moi moi, miso salmon with rice & broccoli, a protein & fruit smoothie, chilaquiles topped with onion & parsley, or chicken sausage, kale & sweet potato hash. Mix it up on days off when you have more time.
Know that going from just coffee to a full meal every day doesn’t happen overnight, at least not as a new habit, and it may take practice.
Practice chewing your breakfast more slowly.7,8 Digestion starts in the mouth.
Breakfast may simply not be right for you. But if you’re not skipping breakfast for specific health reasons while under medical supervision, try eating a breakfast (with protein) for two weeks and see if there is a difference in how you feel. Is there a “sweet spot” of how much food satisfies you? Do you feel more energized? Are you happier at lunchtime? Do you feel less cranky? Do you snack less at night? You may be surprised by how your body thanks you.
Always check with your healthcare team before making dietary changes, especially if on prescription medications.
References:
Al Abdi T, Andreou E, Papageorgiou A, Heraclides A, Philippou E. Personality, Chrono-nutrition and Cardiometabolic Health: A Narrative Review of the Evidence. Adv Nutr. 2020;11(5):1201-1210. doi:10.1093/advances/nmaa051
Flanagan A, Bechtold DA, Pot GK, Johnston JD. Chrono-nutrition: From molecular and neuronal mechanisms to human epidemiology and timed feeding patterns. J Neurochem. 2021;157(1):53-72. doi:10.1111/jnc.15246
Richter J, Herzog N, Janka S, Baumann T, Kistenmacher A, Oltmanns KM. Twice as High Diet-Induced Thermogenesis After Breakfast vs Dinner On High-Calorie as Well as Low-Calorie Meals. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020;105(3):dgz311. doi:10.1210/clinem/dgz311
Li ZH, Xu L, Dai R, Li LJ, Wang HJ. Effects of regular breakfast habits on metabolic and cardiovascular diseases: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2021;100(44):e27629. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000027629
Sievert K, Hussain SM, Page MJ, et al. Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2019;364:l42. Published 2019 Jan 30. doi:10.1136/bmj.l42
Qiu M, Zhang Y, Long Z, He Y. Effect of Protein-Rich Breakfast on Subsequent Energy Intake and Subjective Appetite in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2021;13(8):2840. Published 2021 Aug 18. doi:10.3390/nu13082840
Hamada Y, Hayashi N. Chewing increases postprandial diet-induced thermogenesis [published correction appears in Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 23;11(1):24483]. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):23714. Published 2021 Dec 9. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-03109-x
Yuan SQ, Liu YM, Liang W, et al. Association Between Eating Speed and Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Nutr. 2021;8:700936. Published 2021 Oct 20. doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.700936
Witbracht M, Keim NL, Forester S, Widaman A, Laugero K. Female breakfast skippers display a disrupted cortisol rhythm and elevated blood pressure. Physiol Behav. 2015;140:215-221. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.12.044
Wilson JE, Blizzard L, Gall SL, et al. An eating pattern characterised by skipped or delayed breakfast is associated with mood disorders among an Australian adult cohort. Psychol Med. 2020;50(16):2711-2721. doi:10.1017/S0033291719002800
Ishizuka R, Otaki N, Tai Y, et al. Breakfast Skipping and Declines in Cognitive Score Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study of the HEIJO-KYO Cohort [published online ahead of print, 2022 Oct 20]. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2022;8919887221135551.
Yamamoto Y, Furukawa S, Watanabe J, et al. Association Between Eating Behavior, Frequency of Meals, and Functional Dyspepsia in Young Japanese Population. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2022;28(3):418-423. doi:10.5056/jnm21146
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