
Is Breakfast Overrated? - denzil_correa
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/is-breakfast-overrated
======
slvv
I may have missed something, but it seems like this only deals with the
potential effect or lack of effect of eating breakfast (or not) on weight
loss. What about the effect of eating breakfast on mental alertness,
productivity, etc? Are there studies on that?

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a8da6b0c91d
You don't even really need a study because it's common sense. Hungry people
are slower in all respects and much more prone to anxiety and aggression. Who
hasn't experienced this?

Most heart attacks and strokes occur in the wee hours of the morning. This is
because fasting and darkness both increase stress hormone levels. Stress is
highest early in the morning. Eating a good breakfast such as with orange
juice and cereal helps rapidly normalize stress and boost the metabolic rate.

As a weight loss strategy skipping breakfast is bunk, anyway. The data
consistently shows people who eat breakfast are thinner. Kids who eat
breakfast cereals are thinner.

~~~
hollerith
>Most heart attacks and strokes occur in the wee hours . . . because fasting
and darkness both increase stress hormone levels.

Not true. The wikipedia article on cortisol: "In humans, the amount of
cortisol present in the blood undergoes diurnal variation; the level peaks in
the early morning (approximately 8 am) and reaches its lowest level at about
midnight-4 am, or three to five hours after the onset of sleep."

(Cortisol is by far the most important "molecular barometer" for stress in
humans.)

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
What's not true? There you have it, stress levels are highest in the morning.
It's a good reason to eat and lower them.

~~~
oe
"The wee hours" mean the hours immediately after midnight, when cortisol
levels are at their lowest.

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fotoblur
I skip breakfast everyday for the last 6 months and these were my results.
Combined with weight training, I got down to 12% bf and lost 15 lbs while
still gaining additional muscle mass. Skipping breakfast, keeping my eating
window within an 8 hour period each day, while maintaining a 2000-3000
calorie/day consumption seemed to do the trick for me.
[http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-
guide.html](http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html)

~~~
stinos
point is, would have there been any difference at all when you would not have
skipped breakfast and instead maintained those amounts of calories by
spreading them out more evenly during the day?

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matymador
Read the link. Intermittent fasting is more than just skipping breakfatst.

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michaelfeathers
There's something very spooky about breakfast that no one really talks about -
it's very same-y.

Sure, you can find variety in brunches but typical breakfast food (in the
West) is usually eggs, (ham/sausage/bacon) and/or cereal/bread.

As an example, if you go to an airport food court in the morning, you see
Asian, Italian, French, Hamburger, Sandwich and Pizza restaurants all suspend
their normal menu and offer eggs, a breakfast meat, and bread. No competitive
differentiator.

Maybe this is cultural, but I think it really has something to do with
people's tolerance for variety when they first wake up.

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nly
I think it has more to do with the monotony of 9-5 work. The routine of
ramping up and getting ready for work without any risks that could upset our
day.

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rdtsc
I would rather sleep longer, and go to work, then around 11 or so have brunch,
then dinner around 7. Have been doing this for a long time, seems to work well
for me.

Over time I have become quite suspicious of many of these dieting trends and
advice. Somehow I believe many are sponsored by food brands (cereal companies,
bacon and egg producers and so on).

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dominotw
I would imagine thats how humanity survived for most of the time. I can't
imagine human beings had their food available and ready to eat first thing in
the morning until very recently.

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chc
Why wouldn't a farmer have food available in the morning?

~~~
gd1
So like he said then, very recently. Agriculture is ~9000 years, homo sapiens
at least a million.

~~~
Pxtl
9000 years is like 400 generations. Russian Scientists turned wild foxes into
domestic pets in only 20 generations. The problem with evolutionary biology is
that fixating on pre-civilized man ignores how fast evolution can go.

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pingec
Yes it is overrated. At least in my case.

I'm 26 and on workdays I wake up at 7:30. My first meal is lunch (13:00) or
late lunch (16:00). It has been like this since I was 12. I don't feel any
hunger in the mornings and I function just fine, be it sports or intellectual
work.

However, I am tired of listening to popular "wisdom" from anyone who has 2
minutes of time to lecture me on how skipping breakfast is going to ruin my
life because... blah blah blah

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nostromo
A lot of fitness gurus swear by cardio before breakfast. The theory is that
you'll burn more stored fat before you eat the first meal of the day (or drink
anything with carbs, like juice or coffee with milk and sugar).

Is it true? As with all diet and exercise talk, nobody seems to know.

~~~
PublicEnemy111
This definitely depends on the person. An ectomorph has no business performing
heavy cardio while being in a large caloric deficit. Endomorphs, however,
could benefit from it. I myself have tried fasted cardio in the morning - it
produced great results but my brain could not function as it normally does. I
found myself making far more stupid mistakes throughout the day.

TL;DR - it depends on the person. That is why there is no and never will be a
definite answer

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mmaunder
As a dev I'm vulnerable to getting on weird schedules e.g. keep working later
at night and waking up later in the morning until I'm going to bed an hour
after sunrise - which I think we all agree sucks bigtime. The ambient light
and extra noise leads to crappy sleep quality.

So I found the best way to have my sleep schedule resemble something that
matches the rest of humanity is to have breakfast when I wake up as soon as
possible after I've showered. Sounds silly, but once you've looped completely
around to waking up at 7am again, start having breakfast asap. I've found it's
the most effective way to stay on a mainstream schedule. It's been working for
me now for a few years.

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beachstartup
i am tracking calories to lose weight right now, and i absolutely love
breakfast, so i try to eat it most of the time. it's my "me" time. usually i
cook up a couple of eggs and some coffee.

however, if i go over the previous day's allotment of calories which happens
sometimes if i go out for dinner with friends, skipping breakfast is a great
way to get my body back into 'burn' mode. some people call it intermittent
fasting - cause what your'e really doing is an 6PM - 12PM next-day fast. i can
feel the effect of giving my body a break if i over-indulge.

~~~
1337biz
This works only if you are an early riser. You can't create a breakfast
delicious enough that I would trade for 15 minutes of sleep in the morning.

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ioddly
My experience with intermittent fasting has suggested to me me that the
quality of your food and consistency in when you eat it is vastly more
important than when and with what frequency you eat. I lost more weight and
gained more strength eating all my food in a 4-hour window than I ever did
trying to eat 6 meals a day or whatever.

Which is not to say there is anything magic about a 4/20 fasting split, just
that it got me eating an appropriate amount of healthy food, which is really
all that matters.

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macNchz
As a programmer and night owl, breakfast is usually the determining factor for
whether I will do any productive work before lunch. I feel much better all day
if I have something to eat, but the discipline required to get moving a few
minutes early often evades me.

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Bahamut
Most of the time I skip breakfast, but I'm not too religious on eating it or
not - it's more of a time issue for me.

In the past month and a half, I've lost about 17 lbs. For me, the trick has
been to eat less overall (usually 1-2 meals a day), and to exercise more
consistently. I've still been eating some not-so-great foods like fried
chicken, fries, ice cream, and pizza & garlic knots.

In the interim, I have also been getting healthier as well - this morning I
finished a 15 mile run, which is an increase from my (then) limit of 7-8 miles
before starting on this fitness crusade. Granted, I am a distance runner and
have run several marathons, but it is an example of increased fitness.

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weisser
Surprised no one has brought up bulletproof coffee yet.

[http://www.fastcompany.com/3032635/most-creative-
people/bull...](http://www.fastcompany.com/3032635/most-creative-
people/bulletproof-coffee-the-new-power-drink-of-silicon-valley)

I've been experimenting with it for the last 2 weeks and have lost 3 pounds.
I've also noticed reduced cravings during the time between breakfast and lunch
and I don't feel an intense caffeine hit like I did when I would drink iced
coffee.

I'm not sure how long I will continue experimenting with this nor do I know
the long-term effects of having this drink every morning.

~~~
kken
There is a lot of marketing fluff around this. "Brain Octane Oil"... ?

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markbnj
Meh, breakfast was never a magic meal. The point to it is just this: if you
wake up hungry it means you didn't go to bed full. Most of the people I know
who don't eat breakfast snack well into the night. Most of the people I know
who don't snack at night (like myself) wake up very hungry. As to which is
better for you I have no real idea, but I always suspected sleeping on a
bellyful of food was not a great thing. In any case, I simple find it
uncomfortable, which is why I don't do it.

~~~
Theodores
> sleeping on a bellyful of food

This is supposed to be bad for you (according to those that grew up watching
adverts for breakfast 'cereals'). You are supposed to go for a constitutional
walk after a large meal, not pass out asleep.

I have observed what cats, dogs and animals on nature programmes do. Maybe
they did not get the memo from the experts. As a rule with no exceptions I can
think of, all of them go to sleep shortly after eating a large meal.

The athletes with the highest calorie requirements - Tour de France cyclists -
they go to bed on a sizeable meal. It doesn't seem to be a problem for them.

Where did this idea come from that you should not sleep on a full stomach?

~~~
chc
Most animals are not obligate bipeds. Their bodies are intended to be
horizontal all the time.

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ALee
Interesting. I (and others including Tim Ferris) was under the impression that
eating protein for breakfast helps stimulate mental alertness and promotes
weight loss. It seems that this small sample (still a RCT) does not support
that hypothesis.

Studies have shown that smaller more frequent meals are important for general
alertness and weight loss - the theory being that you're not maxing out your
body's sugar or food load.

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thisjepisje
no paywall:

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/is-breakfast-
overra...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/is-breakfast-
overrated/?partner=rss&emc=rss)

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malkia
It read a bit like an article from The Onion :)

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panzi
I once read you can answer all headlines that are yes/no questions with no.
Seems to work here, because if you start hungry in the day you are grumpy (I
am). If you are grumpy all day you can't concentrate (I can't).

~~~
onedev
It's called Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines)

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hkon
After I started eating breakfast I lost 10kg

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thisjepisje
I love breakfast, not overrated IMO.

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dustingetz
microwaved oatmeal at my desk for breakfast = no cravings for a big or
unhealthy lunch. YMMV

