
How Breakfast Became a Thing - samsolomon
http://priceonomics.com/how-breakfast-became-a-thing/
======
bbarn
I started to read this with some interest, as someone who's spent many hours
thinking about and trying different metabolic strategies, diets, etc..

Then about 30 seconds in my reading got disrupted by a fucking light-box
asking me to sign up or log in or god knows what.. my instinct to close tab
won out over my curiosity. Please stop this pattern. If you really think your
content is worth having to (whatever)wall from the public, do so, but don't
make me get into it and then shove something mid word into my face. This is
the digital equivalent of giving me a magazine to read, waiting until you're
sure I've got my eyes on it, then shoving a business card in my field of
vision and telling me what you do for a living. It's a low rent tactic, annoys
rather than grips your users, and it reeks of desperation to monetize.

~~~
edanm
This company produces great, great content. You _agree_ that it's interesting,
from what you've read.

And yet apparently the most popular comment on their effort is that you don't
want to spare the all-of-2 seconds it takes to click your mouse to close a
pop-up? On a site that _isn 't_ plastered with ads, btw, and is generally very
accessible?

I don't mean to take out my frustration on you, and I get where you're coming
from, but maybe we as consumers should stop feeling so entitled, maybe _that
's_ the pattern that has to end here.

~~~
pacomerh
It really destroys the flow of reading though. These light-boxes should be
more passive. I agree with the first commenter. It's super annoying and
something nice becomes ugly.

~~~
tombrossman
Check out how DigitalOcean does this, on their tutorials. As you scroll down,
a small box appears in the left margin asking you to sign up for the
newsletter. It doesn't block any of the content and you can ignore it while
you continue reading. That's nearly perfect, and an example of how to do it
right.

I still find the animation of it appearing distracting and I think it
interrupts the 'flow' of reading the article, but it was easy enough to block
the element with my ad blocking extension.

As an aside, Firefox + Noscript are a thing of beauty. Using them I just don't
see most of these annoyances. Yes, it 'breaks' many websites but this usually
means a much faster page render without all the annoying stuff.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
The problem is these boxes are designed to manipulate behaviour, not to avoid
annoyance.

Unfortunately slamming a SIGN UP NOW!!!!! box in the middle of the page gets
more people to sign up than a "Please sign up over here" box at the side.

The problem may be a lack of systems thinking.

If your metrics are sign-ups, then the aggressive pattern wins.

If your metrics are _committed_ sign-ups by users who are genuinely interested
and aren't simply going to ignore your emails for the rest of eternity, the
picture may be more complicated.

Too many UX people don't seem to think this one through.

------
jcoffland
It's just amazing how much "common knowledge" about food has been shown to be
completely wrong:

    
    
      * Breakfast is the most important meal [0]
      * Saturated fat is bad [1]
      * Carbs are evil [2]
      * You regain more weight after a fast diet [3]
    

Many will argue but studies have show each one of these to be wrong.

[0]:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/10/the-s...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/10/the-
science-of-skipping-breakfast-how-government-nutritionists-may-have-gotten-it-
wrong/)

[1]: [http://www.eufic.org/page/en/show/latest-science-
news/fftid/...](http://www.eufic.org/page/en/show/latest-science-
news/fftid/Study-no-association-dietary-saturated-fats-cardiovascular-disease-
risk/)

[2]:
[http://www.nature.com/nutd/journal/v6/n2/full/nutd20162a.htm...](http://www.nature.com/nutd/journal/v6/n2/full/nutd20162a.html)

[3]:
[http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-85...](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587%2814%2970200-1/abstract)

~~~
visakanv
I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are
no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood,
and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious
from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-
medicate with cigarettes.

I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so
much clearer, seemingly as a function of relatively-stabilized blood sugar
levels.

But that's just me. It could be totally different for someone else.

~~~
fasteo
That was also my case as an adult. Solved by eating _much_ more at night,
carbs included. I was just not consuming enough calories.

So, another myth - carbs are bad at night - that did not apply to me.

~~~
kefka
Carbohydrates are bad for me, period. I'm diabetic (type 2), and even the
American Diabetes Association says I should be eating around 60g carbs/meal.

After some rudimentary data science liberally using the glucometer, I can tell
you what my body does after all types of simple sugars as well as some complex
sugars... And my limit per day is around 10g carbs. I will change this up to
reintroduce some foods I may not normally eat (like high fiber low carb bread,
or Ryvita rye crisps).

When I was initially diagnosed, my fasting was 161mg/dL and a1c=7.1 . Now, my
blood sugar when I wake up in the morning is around 85-105, which is normal.
I've also lost 50 lbs

~~~
AstralStorm
Sample of one without correction for caloric intake?

See, losing weight fixes many numbers.

~~~
kefka
Correct. I only controlled for carbohydrates (total and [carb-fiber] for net
carbs )

After 6 days of low carb diet, my hunger went down dramatically, and I started
to feel better. I started to notice weight loss around day 10.

Now, the more I study about T2 diabetes, my 'guess' is that it's a metabolic
disease. Someone who's T2 gets high blood sugar, the sugar is eventually
processed to fat, causing extreme hunger when the glucose is out of the body
(back to normal levels), causing the person to eat more carbs.

That would also explain why things like the Atkins diet does work for certain
people; it works for those whom are predisposed to T2 diabetes. It doesn't
work and can harm greatly those whom aren't susceptible to T2...

But that's my pet theory.

~~~
maxerickson
It's obviously a metabolic disease. Insulin is well described as a metabolic
hormone. T2 diabetes is the signal not getting processed.

The big open question is what causes it.

------
Aelinsaar
Dropping breakfast from my diet as a regular thing, something as simple as
just getting started later in the day on eating, has been incredibly helpful
in losing (and maintaining lower) weight. It's not the only thing of course;
generally eating smaller portions, and moving my butt more are the other two
keys. Obsessing over exactly what I'm eating and how much has never helped,
but just eating less... it sounds simple, but it's what works.

~~~
kilroy123
Also losing weight. I just cut my breakfast way down, to a breakfast bar, and
coffee.

~~~
HorizonXP
I've done the opposite actually. My breakfast is my single largest meal, with
every other meal throughout the day being small. For me, my body prefers to
have energy throughout the day, and doesn't like having food in my stomach
when I sleep. Sometimes I go to bed "hungry" but at least I don't get
indigestion or heartburn.

~~~
epimetheus
I tried the "breakfast as the largest meal" before, but I couldn't get by not
eating much for dinner. A large breakfast made me hungry by mid-day, and so
I'd eat more, by the time dinner came around, it was a light salad or some
other low calorie food, which affected my insomnia. I can't sleep hungry, I'll
stay awake, and miserable all night.

On the other hand, I found being hungry in the morning is short term, and once
I got into a project at work or something, I just forgot about it. A light,
later lunch (up at 4am, lunch at noon), and a big dinner, and It's not hard at
all.

I think this just illustrates that there are actual differences between
people. Maybe the primary difference for me is my insomnia. Some people don't
have crashes several hours after eating a big breakfast, and they stay
satiated longer.

~~~
barrkel
I've found that sticking to a regular schedule causes your body to adapt. You
get hungry when you expect food.

Personally, if I don't eat in the evening, I get tired and want to go to
sleep, so I'll turn in at 9pm or so and then I'll get up at 2am and won't be
able to sleep until 5am. Whereas if I eat, I'll stay up to 1am or so, and then
sleep until 8am. Food primarily affects how much energy I have. More food,
more energy.

------
nihonde
In Japan, I learned what a truly healthy breakfast is.

Most days I eat a bowl of brown rice with a raw egg stirred in and a dash of
high-quality soy sauce and topped with natto. Some days I'll also grill salmon
or smelt. On the side, I usually have tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and miso
soup.

Protein, probiotics, pickles...once you get used to it, the idea of eating
sweet desserts for breakfast (which is what most people eat) seems
counterproductive.

(By the way, it's probably true that many people in Japan eat the same crap as
Americans do for breakfast——there's no shortage of bread, donuts, etc.)

~~~
soared
I was curious if raw eggs were actually healthy after reading your comment. I
was never allowed to eat raw eggs growing up. A little google-fu says he risk
of salmonella is overstated and extremely rare, but the USDA and others still
suggest avoiding raw eggs. Not much definitive on cooking vs. raw though.

~~~
zhemao
Eggs won't get salmonella if they are refrigerated promptly after they are
laid. Japan has higher food safety standards, so eggs produced in Japan are
less likely to have salmonella than those produced in the US.

~~~
pilsetnieks
Eggs will also not get salmonella if their natural protective coating is not
washed away as per regulations in the US (vs Europe.) In fact, American eggs
would be illegal in most European countries and vice versa - American eggs
must be washed and refrigerated, whereas washing European eggs is prohibited.

[http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-
the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt)

~~~
abyssin
The rationale behind it being that European egg producers will put more care
into making sure the raising site is actually clean.

~~~
pilsetnieks
I'm not so sure about that, we hear the same horror stories about factory
farms as well. However, the chickens are vaccinated against salmonella, and
that might have something to do with it.

------
Guildpact
I eat cereal and milk as a dessert at night in place of something like ice
cream, because that is what it is. People who eat cereal for breakfast are no
better than people eating donuts or other sweets, it is just an awful way to
start your day because of the blood sugar spike and then drop which creates
hunger pangs.

You can combat it by having a proper breakfast focusing on protein and low
glycemic index carbs, eggs, steel-cut oats, omelettes, etc. A favorite of mine
is proatmeal, make some oats and then mix in BSN Syntha-6 vanilla ice cream
protein powder, absolutely delicious. The other way to combat it as suggested
by people in this thread is to drop breakfast all together besides maybe
having coffee and a granola bar.

~~~
redcap
I eat muesli at 7:15 and don't feel hungry until 12. Maybe people don't think
of muesli when they hear the word cereal.

~~~
Symbiote
Depending on the composition, muesli is either close to oats, or packed with
sugar ("45% fruit!").

~~~
AstralStorm
Which is why I prefer to make my own. Candied and most kinds og dried fruit
are nutritionally negative worth compared to fresh or frozen.

------
thomasjudge
How did priceonomics become a thing.. this seems like a clickbait site for the
more intellectual crowd, less trashy than say buzzfeed, but ultimately not
really delivering much in the way of genuine insight. It probably doesn't hurt
that the name recalls "freakonomics", another brand which, while occasionally
interesting, is far past its pull date as well..

~~~
ulrikrasmussen
What would you categorize as "genuine insight", then? I found the article
pretty good, well written, and it actually taught something about the history
of cereals in America that I didn't know (the fact that Kellogg had purely
moral reasons for inventing what later evolved into the sugary Kellogg's that
we know today was pretty interesting!)

Articles that can be called "clickbait" are generally not very well written,
misrepresents information, and leave you with a feeling of not getting what
the headline promised. That is not the case here, at all.

------
aznpwnzor
I was just bringing this up as a possible thing the other day at work. It was
always weird to me how marketed breakfast was. The irrational vitriol I
received only further convinced me how much breakfast (specifically grains
heavy) is due to marketing.

~~~
danharaj
There's this idea that markets just discover and serve peoples' wants and
preferences. It has to be tempered with the fact that our perceptions and even
our identities are shaped by the information we are served with from birth. In
this era, culture serves capital as much as capital serves culture.

------
awinter-py
For mice (and presumably for certain other mammals), 12-hour daily fast seems
to have positive outcomes.

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/a-12-hour-window-
fo...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/a-12-hour-window-for-a-
healthy-weight/?_r=0)

The study suggests this is true even if you cheat on the weekend.

I'm super-dubious of evidence showing that breakfast improves school outcomes
(except where it helps meet kids' calorie needs). You know what else boosts
school outcomes? Sedatives, because school is hella boring. That doesn't mean
sedating kids or adults is a good idea.

------
hyperchase
I need to eat around 3000 calories per day to support my powerlifting
training, and if I don't eat something first thing in the morning with a
shitload of carbs -- usually something like rolled oats, berries, and a few
bananas -- then I'm usually gassed and feeling like crap by 10.

A few friends of mine fast intermittently and train in the morning before
eating but it's beyond me how that is not just pure torture.

~~~
manigandham
> A few friends of mine fast intermittently and train in the morning before
> eating but it's beyond me how that is not just pure torture.

Practice. If you've never done it before, it takes a few days/weeks to get
used to. Also willpower.

~~~
hueving
Saying that willpower is a factor implies that it is unpleasant, which is
actually agreeing with the implication of "pure torture" that the parent
comment implied.

~~~
manigandham
Not really, it has nothing to do with it being pleasant or not. It means that
you need to commit to actually doing it (like anything in life).

I'm absolutely fine with it and prefer it, like many other people. It's
definitely not "torture".

Maybe it isn't for some but mostly it's about overcoming the change in routine
and there's no shortcut to changing or building habits, it's just willpower.

~~~
reitanqild
Generally we throw a lot of words around sometimes:

Like calling something torture - that you voluntarily do to yourself because
of an expected net positive outcome.

For the respect of people who suffers or have suffered from torture I think we
should avoid that kind of hyperbole.

Same goes for calling sexism on any joke about gender differences. It's kind
of disrespectful to everyone who has suffered from the real thing.

------
jmarinez
I've dropped breakfast for about a month now and I feel so much better. I'm
eating a heavy lunch and then dinner. Lost weight and it wasn't on purpose. As
a result I've been questioning a lot of our norms. Not only when we eat, but
what we eat and why. Loved the article.

~~~
glangdale
This was my conscious weight loss strategy. Stop eating at 7-8pm in the
evening and hold off eating _any_ food until noon or so, which gets a 16+ hour
fast. I ate whatever I wanted (not crazy, but not spartan) and lost about 70g
per day over a long period (110kg -> 95kg). This was in conjunction with
exercising but I was exercising before without losing much weight. Not a very
original idea but I was amazed at how easy it was (relative to 5:2, which gave
me two workdays a week of 'thinking about food way too much').

------
hyperpallium
When I was multiday camping and bicycle touring over mountainous terrain, I
tried skipping breakfast once (it takes extra time), and it left me strikingly
weak.

Very different energy demands from office work.

~~~
themodelplumber
I had a similar experience when I was a bicycle-riding missionary in Japan. I
unwittingly reduced my calorie count drastically one day by switching up my
breakfast menu and had to return and refuel early. At the time we were riding
about 60-80km a day.

------
hasenj
Misleading title. Many cultures have a concept of a morning breakfast meal.

Title should be: How _cereal_ became a thing _in America_.

Where I grew up, breakfast was just eggs, bread, and tea (or milk-tea).

~~~
cperciva
It does address the question of when and why people started eating breakfast.
It just concentrates mostly on the foods eaten by Americans for breakfast.

------
dpweb
Obesity problem as well. I know some people don't like to hear it, but
breakfasts can easily go 800 calories and up. You are starting off the day in
surplus.

~~~
alatkins
> You are starting off the day in surplus.

Generally breakfast comes after a 10-12 hour fast for most people, so I don't
think this is the way to think of it.

~~~
dpweb
True, I think a good policy is to eat when you're hungry. Not sure the body
was necessarily meant to be constantly processing food all the time anyway.

~~~
alatkins
Totally agree, and also breakfast is the 'easiest' meal to skip as well, along
with mooted benefits of extending your overnight fast.

------
musgrove
I'm more interested in how breakfast food became mostly garbage for so many
Americans. May as well eat a Snickers, chili dog and a Coke from the gas
station when you get up.

~~~
zhemao
I'm pretty sure that's the primary question the article answers. Heavy
marketing of highly sugary cereal.

------
wslh
I find more insight and less conspiracy in "History of breakfast" from
Wikipedia[1]. The Wikipedia article talks about different perspectives before
1800 since it is not clear why the article is talking about the American
breakfast instead of focusing on different cultural perspectives (e.g. "Before
cereal, in the mid 1800s, the American breakfast was not all that different
from other meals").

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_breakfast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_breakfast)

------
OneTwoFree
I don't drink coffee at all. I eat a vegetarian sandwich every morning when I
go to work, it gives me a good start for the day, I feel sharp and focused all
morning. Sometimes when the sandwich shop is closed I buy something like a
chicken sandwich, and that makes me more sleepy and tired.

Lunch is usually a big pile of rice with some vegetables and meat. Wow, this
makes it reeeally hard to stay awake at the afternoon, but there aren't many
options for lunch near the workplace.

For dinner, my wife cooks something also usually rice with some meat and
veggies. But about 1 hour before I plan to go to sleep I eat 1 or 2 bananas. I
always had hard time sleeping, and I read that bananas are good for sleeping
because it contains potassium. For me it works. Although this might be
completely placebo, because bananas don't work for my wife.

------
biswaroop
This may be an argument against breakfast for the sedentary, but athletes on
extended training programs usually need to eat in the morning. You're much
more likely to hit the wall on an empty stomach, a few hours into your
training.

~~~
erkkie
That is very much unsubstantiated, all kinds of athletes enjoy and thrive
training fasted. It's probably much more complex in what's best for whom than
just "much more likely to hit the wall". Type of metabolism, levels of fat
adaption, type of activity, length of activity, etc all matters.

As an personal anecdote, I enjoy climbing in the mornings before having food,
that's a few good hours of intermittent sprint type activity.

~~~
biswaroop
Sure it's more complex, but it you're still more likely to hit the wall. Also,
correct me if I'm wrong but climbing isn't quite as cardiovascular as cycling
for instance, and I'd be hard-pressed to find an endurance athlete who can
survive with no breakfast.

------
raz32dust
Title is misleading. It should be titled "How cereal became a thing". But that
is kinda obvious and no one would probably click it then.

------
iomind
If you have ever chance to read any ancient Greek historian, you would notice
breakfast was a big deal back then. Xenophon for example mentions it about
every time he describes how the morning starts in an army camp. This is just
another click-bait article, don't fall for it.

------
chestervonwinch
I was surprised to see no mention of Edward Bernays:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vFz_FgGvJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vFz_FgGvJI)

------
feritkan
Breakfast is not a new thing, or it has anything to do with cereal or milk or
donuts.. Just google image search Turkish Breakfast...

------
usaphp
I dont know why but if I skip breakfast I will 100% get a headache later
during the day. Not sure why it's happening...

~~~
steadicat
Do you eat a lot of sugar? I used to have pastries or cereal and sugar with my
coffee at breakfast and sometimes throughout the day. Like for you, a skipped
meal or snack meant headaches. I've since weaned off sugar and I can easily go
many hours without eating or snacking. I no longer eat breakfast.

I suspect that the blood sugar spikes were addictive, i.e. my body
desensitized and needed me to frequently consume sugar to keep my blood sugar
level high.

Try gradually reducing the amount of sugar that you consume, and/or the total
amount that you eat at breakfast, as well as the frequency of your snacks
throughout the day. Eventually you should be able to do fine on two good meals
a day and nothing else.

~~~
usaphp
Interesting thought thanks, however I mostly eat cottage cheese or greek
yogurt with granola in the morning, I almost never eat sweats in the morning.

~~~
steadicat
For what it's worth, granola is heavily sweetened (with honey or maple syrup,
which are effectively sugar).

~~~
usaphp
yup, but I honestly only add like a tablespoon of it to add texture to yogurt.
It's more like a stress sort of headache that comes from not having food, I
feel muscle stiffness in the neck which causes a headache, really weird

~~~
jcoffland
Most yogurt in America is heavy on sugar as well.

~~~
usaphp
Yep, but not the greek one, I am eating this one:
[http://usa.fage.eu/yogurts/fage-total-plain#fage-
total](http://usa.fage.eu/yogurts/fage-total-plain#fage-total) loads of
protein and tastes great

------
infectoid
Personally I feel best with a very small breakfast (maybe just a coffee),
large lunch and small or no dinner.

------
jerryhuang100
this article kind of lags for a while (at least several months) as in march
2015 Bloomberg business wk just ran a cover story of the declining cereal
sales across the board:

[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-26/for-
kellog...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-26/for-kellogg-
cereal-sales-recovery-may-be-lost-hope)

and the last several paragraphs about "breakfast-denying" seem biased as there
are more studies to support the importance of breakfast.

------
bonniemuffin
And yet, cereal is in decline, apparently because pouring two things into a
bowl is too much effort, among other reasons.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/business/cereals-
struggle-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/business/cereals-struggle-in-
us-as-tastes-and-rituals-change.html?_r=0)

~~~
throwaway_java
Cereal is a sugar delivery vehicle, but juice is good as gold.

Right.

~~~
a_t48
He probably means juicing, as in sticking fruits and veggies in a juicer and
making something akin to a smoothie.

