EAT BREAKFAST LIKE A KING OR QUEEN

We’ve all heard it – breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but around the world many different countries have different cultural norms, from bread and jams in France and miso soup in Japan. But even with these differences in food choices there is one thing that remains consistent - consuming food at the start of the day.

It is thought that 64 to 82 % of people eat breakfast – so that’s up to 36% of people who miss it! Of those people who do eat breakfast, they will eat anywhere between 6 and 10am, with the majority eating around 8am. It is likely that due to the ‘on the go culture’ in Europe and the US that people are missing breakfast as they are not making it a priority. One survey interviewing millennials suggested that cleaning up after breakfast was a barrier to eating it!

So, for those people who are finding time to eating breakfast (and clean up afterwards) what are they having? There have been many health claims in the media attached to what the best breakfast is, from bullet proof coffee, to chocolate cake or even ice cream! What we do know is that different foods will have a different effect on your nutritional health. It turns out around half of people eating breakfast actually have an inadequate nutritional intake at this meal. The research is heavily suggesting that a balanced breakfast of carbohydrates, fats and protein allows slow energy release over the morning which can stop you from feeling hungry later in the day. By adding a nutritious breakfast to your day your intake of macro and micronutrients can improve.

Having a balanced breakfast can mean you’re more likely to have a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), improved alertness and higher cognitive performance! Chaill et al noted a 27% increase in coronary heart disease amongst North American men who failed to eat breakfast. But what about your mental health? A good quality breakfast has been linked to lower level of stress and depression compared to those who eat a poor quality breakfast. It’s also been linked to improved wellbeing and also quality of life! With this research there are suggestions that skipping breakfast may be a determinate of other unhealthy life choices which can cause lower quality of life as a result.

Emerging evidence is suggesting that energy from food is used more effectively in the morning, but the mechanism is not clear. Chrono-nutrition is a new area of research where complex interactions between circadian biology, nutrition and metabolism. It is thought that different physiological interactions within tissues are carried out depending upon the time of day. They are thought to be regulated by the hypothalamus which acts as the timekeeper, which is activated by light. Further research needs to be conducted on how mealtimes, and breakfast (as this is the meal we are interested in here) may impact upon health. At present research is suggesting that morning loaded energy distribution can contribute to weight control but more quality research is needed.

So that brings us back to the question proposed – is breakfast the most important meal of the day? I’ll let you decide.

Kindly produced by Sarah Elder

References

Bellisle, F., 2004. Effects of diet on behaviour and cognition in children. British Journal of nutrition, 92(S2), pp.S227-S232.

Bellisle, F. and Rolland-Cachera, M.F., 2007. Three consecutive (1993, 1995, 1997) surveys of food intake, nutritional attitudes and knowledge, and lifestyle in 1000 French children, aged 9-11 years. Journal of human nutrition and dietetics: the official journal of the British Dietetic Association, 20(3), pp.241-251.

Cahill, L.E., Chiuve, S.E., Mekary, R.A., Jensen, M.K., Flint, A.J., Hu, F.B. and Rimm, E.B., 2013. Prospective study of breakfast eating and incident coronary heart disease in a cohort of male US health professionals. Circulation, 128(4), pp.337-343.

Chamlee, V., 2016. Americans are increasingly obsessed with breakfast: the trend is partly thanks to fast food breakfast. Eater, Accessed April 2020 . Available on the world wide web: http://www. eater. com/2016/5/17/11691604/us-breakfast-consumption-rise.

Lloyd H.M., Rogers P.J., Hedderley D.I., Walker A.F. Acute effects on mood and cognitive performance of breakfasts differing in fat and carbohydrate content.

Deshmukh-Taskar, P.R., Radcliffe, J.D., Liu, Y. and Nicklas, T.A., 2010. Do breakfast skipping and breakfast type affect energy intake, nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy, and diet quality in young adults? NHANES 1999–2002. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 29(4), pp.407-418 

Rampersaud, G.C., Pereira, M.A., Girard, B.L., Adams, J. and Metzl, J.D., 2005. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(5), pp.743-760.

Siega-Riz, A.M., Popkin, B.M. and Carson, T., 1998. Trends in breakfast consumption for children in the United States from 1965-1991. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 67(4), pp.748S-756S.

The British Dietetic Association. Healthy Breakfast Food Fact Sheet [online]. UK. Accessed on April 2020 Available on the world wide web [https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/healthy-breakfast.html]