EXTENSION REPORT

On busy mornings, do you skip breakfast?  Skipping breakfast doesn’t help to control weight. Indeed, as nutrition experts are learning, quite the opposite is true.  Breakfast is widely considered the nutritional keystone of daily eating. Yes, the balanced morning meal can be an excellent source of calcium and is an essential meal for school-age children. Moreover, the fiber associated with common breakfast cereals may contribute to a reduction in one’s colon cancer risk. But all of these things, while significant, are only part of the bigger picture.

As nutritionists are learning, breakfast also serves an important, even indispensable role in weight loss.  At Auburn University, Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and professor of nutrition and food science, cites a study by the National Weight Loss Registry showing that regular breakfast consumption is a key factor not only in losing weight but also in maintaining one’s desired weight.

As far as Keith is concerned, the results make perfect sense. After all, skipping breakfast --- usually with the misguided notion that it will help us lose weight --- means going as long as 14 to 16 hours without eating. This strategy, in the end, proves entirely self-defeating.

“By [lunchtime], all the brain’s biochemical eating signals are going off,” Keith says. “You’re not only hungry but starving.”  Even worse, there’s the compulsion to binge --- to make up for all those calories that were skipped in the morning. Squelching hunger often involves a mad dash to the office vending machine for a quick jolt of calorically dense, nutritionally empty foods.

Regular breakfast eaters have a better chance of avoiding these mid-morning binges. Data released by the National Weight Loss Registry show that people who consumed at least five breakfasts a week actually had an easier time not only losing weight but also maintaining their desired weight over the long term. Other studies released by Duke University and the American Dietetic Association also support these findings.

“By starting the day with a good breakfast --- which hopefully won’t involve junk food --- you can put a damper on all those biochemical signals that are telling you to eat, eat, eat through the day,” Keith says.
It doesn’t have to be a complicated affair. For kids, Keith advises a simple bowl of cereal --- not the sugary kind but one that is high in fiber and possibly supplemented with fruit.  “It’s a valuable meal because in addition to the fiber, you’re also getting calcium from the milk,” he says.

Other healthy options include whole-grain toast with a moderate serving of jam or jelly. Scrambled eggs also are an excellent choice, as long as they are cooked with a minimum amount of margarine and other fattening ingredients.  Yogurt is another excellent selection, Keith says, though he stresses that heavy foods, such as the traditionally fried eggs, bacon and heavy gravies should be avoided.

The same sort of advice applies for adults, though in most cases, limiting calories should be an even bigger concern. Adults typically should aim for a 400- to 500-calorie breakfast. Low-fat bagels are a good choice. Whole wheat toast and high-fiber nutritional breakfast bars are also wise selections because of their fiber content --- an especially important issue for adults, who should strive to get between 5 and 7 grams of fiber at breakfast. Breakfast also is a good opportunity to consume calcium, which is readily available in milk and, in many cases, fortified fruit juices, and cereals.

As a rule of thumb, Keith says children and adults alike should view breakfast as the day’s most nutritionally crucial meal.  “I’ve always thought of breakfast as THE meal of the day --- the best opportunity we have throughout the day to eat well.”

 Thanks to James Langcuster, Extension Specialist – Communications for this information.

Email address:swingard@aces.edu
Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.