
Claims that breakfast is a health panacea may be unsupported - snaky
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/1/18206873/breakfast-diet-weight-loss
======
mattlondon
In my personal anecdotal experience, skipping breakfast and instead "fasting"
from last night's dinner through to lunch has been really effective at weight
control. You are starving by 10am for the first few days you do it, but after
that you dont even notice you've skipped eating breakfast. Makes you wonder
why you even had breakfast in the first place after a while. I believe that
skipping breakfast has now been given a grandiose term of "intermittent
fasting" or "intermittent energy restriction diet". I still call it skipping
breakfast.

I'll still have breakfast at the weekends as its more of a social thing then,
but on the usual 9-5 rat race I just skip it and save 10-20 mins of my day
usually spent getting/making + eating breakfast. I even skip before a morning
workout - so far no problems after many years doing it.

~~~
sys_64738
Consuming breakfast takes tome so I’ve skipped for awhile now. When I get
hungry I usually drink a cup of tea black. I eat an early lunch around 11.30am
so that does me until dinner at 6pm. I find a cycle of predictiveness allows
me to keep a regular weight which trends downwards if I don’t deviate.

I also avoid snack machines at work by never having loose change. I also avoid
‘free food’ unless fruit. Keep sugar to a minimum so no soda and no visits to
drive through or donut shops. No soda either.

~~~
nradov
"Free" snacks in the office cost us a lot.

------
A2017U1
Nutritional guidelines have very short lives compared to every other field of
science. It's such a minefield of contradictions.

Astonished how many pretend a topic so complicated by biology/genetics and
routinely proven wrong can be easily broken down into simplistic good/bad
buckets (and of course they definitely got it right this time)

Saturated fats and salt are next in line to fall, despite how hard the
entrenched old guard of health authorities want to ignore the new evidence.

~~~
mlrtime
First it was fat, so we got low fat products and the sugar replaced it. Now
sugar is the enemy, so low carb high fat (Keto). Next will be protein.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
Put fat and sugar together and you get very palatable foods (like ice cream).
It makes sense that removing either would help control weight.

------
rags2riches
When I was young and without a daily schedule, I'd typically end up eating two
meals a day. Something like brunch and something like dinner.

In adult life, with a typical schedule, I just skip breakfast and have lunch
and dinner like everybody else. It's not a problem at all. Getting up and
pretty much immediately having something to eat is just a habit. Sometimes I
might get a little hungry before it's time for lunch. Then I have a fruit and
that's it.

I don't think this is bad for my capacity at work at all. Ive done the
breakfast routine as well, so I know what it's like. I always notice that I'm
not working at full speed when I for example haven't slept well or if I'm
about to come down with a cold, so I think I would be able to tell if skipping
breakfast was having an impact.

------
hmd_imputer
Drinking at least two liters of water per day - unsupported

Eating an apple a day - unsupported

Saturated fats causing increased cholesterol, thus leading to heart failure -
unsupported

It seems that almost everything we've been told since childhood to be healthy
has no scientific basis whatsoever.

~~~
Pfhreak
Don't confuse unsupported with no scientific basis. The scientific method
allows for making hypothesis that are later demonstrated to be false. It can
absolutely be the case that the old recommendations were the best we knew at
the time from science, and be unsupported today.

~~~
village-idiot
No, the saturated fat argument was pure bullshit from day 1. Ansel Keys cherry
picked his data and did not do his multivariate analysis correctly. He then
went on to bully and threaten anyone who disagreed with him for the rest of
his life.

~~~
hmd_imputer
we tend to believe that scientists belong to a different breed of humans who
do not hold grudges, aren't greedy, biased etc. The reality is completely
different, unfortunately.

------
lincolnq
For anyone considering skipping breakfast but finding themselves too hungry, I
would recommend trying it anyway. When I eat breakfast regularly I get hungry
at that time of day, but once I’ve skipped it for a week or two then my body
seems to get used to it and I no longer get hungry at that time.

Also, black coffee for me helps suppress my appetite.

~~~
Nav_Panel
Hunger is an interesting feeling. The tide sweeps in, hunger emerges like a
wave, a call for action on the horizon. It reaches a crescendo, and then
collapses, and disappears. At least, that's how my "routine hunger" feels: eat
at time A on day 1, and you'll be hungry at time A on day 2.

The thing to remember about hunger as a craving is that it'll always pass if
you leave it alone. Have a cup of water and let it go.

(please note: this is only referring to short term hunger sensations. there is
a longer term hunger, but it feels different, more subtle but more all-
encompassing)

~~~
pauljurczak
> The thing to remember about hunger as a craving is that it'll always pass if
> you leave it alone. Have a cup of water and let it go.

Another option is to use a clock instead of gut feeling. I ignore the hunger
until the clock tells me it's been 5 hours since my last meal.

------
pauljurczak
If breakfast means sugar loaded crap shown on the pictures there, then do
yourself a favor and skip it. If your lunch looks similar, skip it too.

~~~
beatgammit
Eat if you're hungry or your doctor tells you too. And when you eat, eat good
food.

I don't understand why people overcomplicate it. The only difference is if
you're trying to lose or gain weight, in which case it makes sense to watch
_how much_ and _what_ you eat, _when_ is less important. Follow your body's
cues, and plan ahead so you have good options when you're hungry.

Personally, my body isn't ready for breakfast for an hour or two after I wake
up, but my kids like to eat as soon as they get up, so I get up earlier so my
mealtime matches my kids. I get up between 5-6, and my kids get up around
7:30, so breakfast at 8 works for both of us. Before I had kids, I'd wake up
later, skip breakfast entirely, and have an early lunch (11 or so).

Afaict, the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" came from
breakfast makers (dairy, cereal, etc), not medical research. Breakfast _can_
be important, if you're hungry in the morning.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Eat if you're hungry or your doctor tells you too. And when you eat, eat
> good food.

> I don't understand why people overcomplicate it.

Because it is, in fact, more complicated in practice. For one thing, it can
take significant effort to isolate and distinguish hunger that signals need to
eat for calories, the sensations produced by habitual expectation of food,
cravings due to specific needs but not general caloric needs, and even thirst.

> The only difference is if you're trying to lose or gain weight, in which
> case it makes sense to watch how much and what you eat, when is less
> important.

When can actually be quite important if you are trying to do anything with law
with your day _besides_ losing weight when trying to lose, since managing to
maintain a calorie deficit while mitigating the impact of the adverse effects
of such a deficit and the associated stress on other activities is nontrivial.

> Follow your body's cues

Your body’s cues are setup to promote overeating when that is possible,
because humans aren't actually evolved for constant, reliable food surplus but
alternation between surplus and insufficiency.

------
virtualritz
I love the table with 'breakfast foods'. This is so telling on the difference
between diets in cultures and why obesity is such an issue in the US.

With the exception of the joghurt there is not a single food in this table
that I or most of my friends in Germany would eat for 'breakfast'.

~~~
GordonS
Sadly, a lot of yoghurt nowadays is also loaded with sugar.

------
Ensorceled
This is a surprisingly good article. It addresses "confus[ing] correlation
with causation", addresses the "sponsored by Kellogg" problem, and hammers on
the bad breakfast issue:

"So if you’re going to eat breakfast, seek out foods that give you the
vitamins and nutrients you need to stay healthy, like fruits, vegetables,
fiber-rich cereals, and eggs. Steer clear of desserts masquerading as
breakfast, like high-sugar granola or yogurt."

------
screye
Healthcare Triage made a wonderful video on the topic :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syleh_6Aopw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syleh_6Aopw)

The channel is run by Aaron Caroll : Professor of pediatrics at Indiana
University School of Medicine, the Vice Chair for Health Policy and Outcomes
Research and the Director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism
Research.

------
ctulek
Try Mediterranean style breakfast: eggs, feta/greek/turkish cheese, olives,
tomatoes, cucumber/green pepper, and any kind of bread.

~~~
tsjq
that sounds a lot like my favourite. ! :)

------
Josh379
Ensemble averaging has not worked well for me when it comes to dieting. I’m at
a point where I’ve found what works well for me: high protein Mediterranean
eat when I’m hungry. I tried skipping breakfast and wound up being skinny-fat.
I tried keto and got fat and muscular. You might fit cleanly into a bin, like
me, you might not.

~~~
ryannevius
What is "skinny-fat"? Is it an issue of uncontrolled weight fluctuations?

~~~
lostapathy
It means your BMI is “normal”, but it’s normal because you lack muscle to
offset having more fat than ideal.

------
jaden
Skipping breakfast is my doctor-approved way of keeping my weight in check. I
found myself eating a few hours after dinner, so I still have three meals a
day, just not at the traditional times. And like others have said here, hunger
is almost never a problem. And drinking water is a great way to satisfy the
occasional hunger.

------
magic_beans
I'm more likely to skip dinner. I'm too much of a morning person to skip
breakfast.

------
bigwheeler
They only go into the effects on your health regarding weight loss/gain, but I
feel like I get a mental boost on mornings when I eat breakfast (either
traditional American or Mediterranean style, never sugar cereal or whatever).
The days I eat breakfast, I feel more focused. When I skip it, I’m on the
express train to A.D.D. Town.

------
nishparadox
Last time I read an article, it was "Death of the Calorie". That article tries
to imply that simple counting "calories" doesn't actually measure health's
correlation to "diets".

------
vbuwivbiu
should be titled "eating cereal for breakfast" as it's specifically about
cereal

other kinds of breakfast (full-English etc) are healthy

~~~
INTPenis
Yeah I came here to make the same observation, this article is, as most things
on HN, very US-centric. Being a european I've mostly eaten granola, porridge,
müsli or sandwiches with cheese and meat for breakfast. But I've still always
heard that breakfast is an important meal, without any association to cereal.

Just the fact that I'm hungry in the morning when I wake up should be an
indicator.

Everyone's mileage may vary.

~~~
asaph
I'm never hungry in the morning. That should be an indicator that I should
skip breakfast, which I often do.

~~~
foobarian
I always thought the focus on breakfast came from our peasant roots. My
ancestors were field workers and eating a huge breakfast + lunch made sense
from an energy input standpoint.

~~~
ken
That's another factor that this summary (and possibly the cited research)
ignores. What do you _do_ before lunch? The two people in the video appear to
be knowledge workers.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
The articles title is:

 _Eating breakfast is not a good weight loss strategy, scientists confirm_

And then goes on to say:

 _if you’ve been eating breakfast to stave off weight gain_

Did I miss something?

~~~
asaph
And this is inconsistent how?

Same quote, more context:

> if you’ve been eating breakfast to stave off weight gain, researchers are
> increasingly learning that breakfast might have the opposite of the desired
> effect — it can promote more calorie consumption and weight gain.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
Eating isn’t a weight loss strategy.

In other news, circles are round. Film at 11.

------
asaph
My 1 person study concludes that breakfast cereal tastes terrible. I'd much
rather have yogurt or eggs for breakfast.

------
VK538FY
Absolutely painfull. And completely USA-centric. Not a reference to the rest
of us. Reminded me of a USian article that was making the rounds a while ago.
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/08/magazine/eate...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/08/magazine/eaters-
all-over.html)

