Breakfast - Good idea or otherwise?

[Mk]

People tell me I should, I say why? I figure if my body doesn't tell me to eat then I won't (unless loss of appetite from illness or something). When I'm sleeping I hardly lose any energy, just my brain, stomach, and heart!

I usually end up eating it more often than not, but I do NOT like following ANYTHING blindly, so I want to know why. Any links? Studies?

Thanks!

 

[hypatia]

When I'm sleeping I hardly lose any energy, just my brain, stomach, and heart!

Durring the night you loose glucose. The brain itself has no reserves of glucose, its main energy source, and must be replenished.
Most mornings, the thought breakfast makes me queezy. I just grab a fruit and coffee. If I do eat a big breakfast I feel sluggish, sleepy. I think we adapt to little or no breakfast over a lifetime. Some countries never have breakfast, only a mid-day meal and dinner.
I have noticed around 10-ish I get really hungry, and if I don't have food by noon, I can get down right cranky.
Most of the studies I have seen involve kids, and adult weight management.

 

[Joel]

We will have 4h hour lab sessions two days a week, from noon to 4pm, and our professor told us not to cheat on breakfast and lunch if we didn't want to faint into accids or bunsen burners.

 

[gurkhawarhorse]

just waiting to spend time.
thought of filling in.

it is really hard to learn the english manners. english break fast r really cool. well the bread is good. i think i am starting to like breakfast!

 

[zoobyshoe]

I feel better if I have some breakfast.

 

[Astronuc]

Breakfast Cereal Helps Maintain Healthy Weight
Cold-Cereal Eaters Weigh Less, Studies of Girls Suggest

Sept. 1, 2005 - When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, most nutritionists agree that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. But what you eat is as important as when you eat, and two new studies show that cold-cereal eaters may have an edge.

In a study of girls followed from age 9 to age 19, regular cereal eaters had fewer weight problems than infrequent cereal eaters, with the risk for being overweight increasing by 13% among girls who ate cereal only occasionally.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. from About.com

Tufts Health & Nutrition Newsletter - March 2004
For Your Weight Control Effort, Breakfast
Eating more in the morning may help limit overeating at night

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_he_me/fit_cereal_obesity by AP on Yahoo

For those under 20, while the body is still developing, including the brain, it is wise to eat a balanced and nutritious diet (and exercise or physical activity as well). This includes a breakfast each day, as is implied by the recent studies.

 

[arildno]

Durring the night you loose glucose.

During night, you lose glucose
and wake up as smart as a moose
So do not be grumpy and morose,
sniff the odour of a red rose,

AND EAT THAT DAMN BREAKFAST, BOY!

 

[Echo 6 Sierra]

Dangit! Astronuc scooped me on that one. Let's talk about breakfast now. How about 2 or 3 scrambled eggs with hashbrowns and sausage crumbled on top all swimming in cream gravy, mmmmmm. The only thing better would be to add churizo that has been fried to the point of just barely being burnt. Wash all that down with a liter of ice cold Pepsi or RC. If I time it just right I can get to the buffet right when they put out steaks and still have breakfast showing.

 

[hypatia]

Might as well slash open your heart and pack it full of lard, I know, it won't be as fun as eating all that stuff...lol
Breakfast like that are fine every once in a while.

 

[moose]

I'm never hungry in the morning :(
Maybe i should eat a protein bar, or granola bar or something

 

[Gokul43201]

How about 2 or 3 scrambled eggs with hashbrowns and sausage crumbled on top all swimming in cream gravy, mmmmmm.

Good idea...I'll be back in an hour or so !

 

[Mk]

I'm never hungry in the morning :(
Maybe i should eat a protein bar, or granola bar or something

Yep, that's why I don't eat in the morning!

 

[moose]

When I go to college, if I have my first class at 8:30 or so, then I may eat breakfast if I wake up at 6:30. I don't see myself waking up at 6:30 if I don't have to though.

How bad is it when I don't eat breakfast nor dinner? I never eat breakfast and often don't eat lunch at school :/

 

[Mk]

Well I guess if you're not dead, and not anorexic its ok!

 

[moose]

Well I guess if you're not dead, and not anorexic its ok!

I may start walking to a grocery store nearby and eating lunch there...

 

[Mk]

But nobody has convinced me it is healthy to eat a breakfast every morning... many countries' cultures don't even eat breakfast, and according to, about.com

Here's the bottom line: The fuel that keeps our motors running is glucose. Your brain and your nervous system need glucose to work: that means walking, speaking, stretching, typing -- any activity requires this fuel. If you don't supply it, your system resorts to finding stored carbohydrates or it tries to turn fat into glucose.

It's not like I haven't had glucose for days, in today's western society, hungry means nothing, people can survive for days without food, and we complain about not eating for ten hours. Besides, isn't turning fat into glucose good if you're trying to lose weight?

 

[JasonRox]

Well, if you don't mind taking your metabolism and shooting it, then don't eat breakfast.

 

[loseyourname]

Starving yourself to burn fat stores is not healthy, even though you will lost fat. If you don't eat breakfast, your metabolism will lag until you eat, and you'll generally have less energy at some point during the day (although you might not have immediate problems in the morning because of the adrenaline rush that you get from waking yourself up and running around to get somewhere on time). The reason a large breakfast will actually make you more tired is that you raise your blood-sugar level very quickly when you eat too much. Your body then floods your bloodstream with insulin, which makes you tired. This happens any time you wait until you're very hungry to eat, then eat a large meal, and is never the best of ideas.

 

[Mk]

I don't get why my metabolism will lag until I eat.

 

[somasimple]

But nobody has convinced me it is healthy to eat a breakfast every morning

Consider your body as a car engine:
Is it preferable to bring some fuel once a day?
Is it preferable to bring some fuel more periodically?

Which solution will you consider as the best one?

 

[Mk]

It really doesn't matter. Does it?

As long as you don't run out of gas you're fine for the car.

Of course I eat more than once per day.

 

[JasonRox]

By eating less frequently, your body learns to use fat stores as energy. This may seem like a good idea because your body is burning fat, which means you lose fat. The problem with this is that when you do eat something, your body stores it as fat. Your body becomes unsure when you are going to eat next, so therefore it stores it because it wants to save energy. Basically, everything you eat becomes fat stores.

Someone who eats more frequently does not burn as much of its fat stores. The good part is, the body learns to use the food that is eaten as energy. It does not store it because it knows you will eat soon again. This is fast metabolism. This is why thin people with fast metabolism don't gain weight after eating ice cream for the entire weekend. The body learns to use all the energy, and does not bother storing it.

The first paragraph describes someone with a slow metabolism. If that person eats ice cream all weekend, he/she will gain weight because the body stored it all as fat.

I used to be on a strict diet, and met other who were also on a strict diet. The difference between our diets was that I did not freak out over a cheat meal. I'd eat cheat meals on a daily basis. My goal was just to get all my nutrients (fats, carbs, proteins, minerals and vitamins) and split it into 7 meals. There goal was to eat 3 times a day, with low calories. They explained to me that sometimes they'd go on a cheat splurge for the weekend, and gain 5-10 pounds. I'd go on a cheat splurge, and not gain a pound... maybe even lose a pound (water).

The problem is that there metabolism is so darn slow, it just stores everything. People in my family remain thin, and most people say it's because of genetics. Yes, some of that is true, but look at their eating habits. They eat roughly 7 to 8 times a day. It's not always healthy, but it's food and energy... which implies that the body learns to just use up the energy because it knows food and energy will come again.

Thin people might eat less than a big person at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, but that thin person will eat again in just a few hours, maybe 2 hours. This results in eating smaller meals 7 to 8 times a day... which is what dieticians are TRYING TO TELL YOU!

Spend the day with a thin person (who's not aneroxic or whatever) and you will see that they eat several times a day. They might not be meals, but they are snacks that come up to 300-400 calories on average, which means it's a relatively small meal.

So...

Eating more frequently is better for YOU!

I hear about people on diets all the time, and it drives me nuts on how people think dieting is eating less. It is NOT SO!

When I was on my diet, it was to grow muscles, and so I increases my calorie intake. My calorie intake was roughly 3 times the maintenance level that I needed. It came out to eating at McDonalds a little over 3 times a day, but I did not eat McDonalds of course. After 3 months, I did not gain one pound. My muscles grew much larger... so what happened with the weight? I lost fat! FOR EATING MORE FOOD!

I'm through with this.

 

[Mk]

Ok, so I should eat breakfast to keep me thin?

What were the other reasons?

 

[JasonRox]

Ok, so I should eat breakfast to keep me thin?

What were the other reasons?

So, your brain doesn't run on an empty tank for the first half of the day.

 

[moose]

Ok, so I should eat breakfast to keep me thin?

What were the other reasons?

I ate a small protein bar today in the morning, and felt better during the day, with more energy

I should start eating breakfast

 

[Entropy]

Breakfast is very important! Your body hasn't eaten in 8+ hours, if you go to long without eating your body goes into starvation mode and your matabolism is turned down (if your trying to burn fat this is bad).

If anything you shouldn't eat diner. Not to long after you eat diner your matabolism is turned down anyways because your body is about to go to sleep in a few hours. So all those calories you just ate are more likely to go into making fat.

 

[Moonbear]

Breakfast is very important! Your body hasn't eaten in 8+ hours, if you go to long without eating your body goes into starvation mode and your matabolism is turned down (if your trying to burn fat this is bad).

That's the real reason to eat breakfast.

Also, I find that "ugh" feeling in the morning that makes me not feel like eating is the "my stomach is running on empty and hurts" feeling.

For most people, it's a long time between dinner and waking up (about 12 hours), assuming dinner is eaten sometime around 6 or 7 PM. If you then don't eat until lunch, you're going on 18 hours without food. Two things happen there that affect weight - by the time you eat lunch, you're so hungry you will tend to over eat, and when your body has been fasted for 18 hours, your metabolism shifts to conserve energy in case you're starving, which means that lunch meal is going to pile on more fat reserves. You then cram in a second meal only 6 hours after your first meal, and then starve yourself for another 18. Eating breakfast helps spread the meals out over more of the active part of your day, and starts you off with the energy to be active.

 

[loseyourname]

Thin people might eat less than a big person at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, but that thin person will eat again in just a few hours, maybe 2 hours.

What about those 100 lb. Japanese guys that are always setting world records in hot-dog eating contests?

 

[moose]

What about those 100 lb. Japanese guys that are always setting world records in hot-dog eating contests?

They are Japanese, which is an entirely different section of Biology

 

[JasonRox]

They are Japanese, which is an entirely different section of Biology

Yeah, that's like comparing Apples and Sausages.