For the Sake of Your Health - and Waistline - Eat Your Breakfast

It's the one meal of the day that gets no respect - breakfast - although nutritionists say it's the one meal none of us should skip, even if our breakfast choices boil down to relatively unhealthy selections.

Why? For starters, without this essential meal, you run the risk of getting your day off to an exceptionally bad start. Your blood sugar level will be relatively low, which increases the chances that you will neither feel well nor think straight.

By the time lunch rolls around, you’re far more likely to eat more to make up for what you missed at breakfast, which means more calories and a greater likelihood of weight gain.

“People think that skipping breakfast is going to help them lose weight, but you actually end up being hungrier at some point and overeating,” says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutritionist and food science.

Simply put, breakfast fasting typically leads to lunchtime feasting, which can exact a heavy toll. This applies especially to schoolchildren — a fact studies have demonstrated time and again. Conversely, studies have shown that children who eat adequate breakfasts tend to consume fewer calories at lunch. There are scholastic benefits too.

“Lots of studies have shown over and over again that children who eat breakfast do better in school — their blood sugar is higher, they think better, and, consequently, they do better as students,” Keith says, adding that this is one reason why many school systems throughout the country now offer breakfasts for children with limited resources.

But these breakfast lessons apply as much to adults as they do to children, especially those adults who, eager to lose or maintain weight, often skip breakfast. But as they often learn, the road to weight gain often is paved with good intentions.

As it turns out, breakfast eaters, even those who consume hefty morning meals, enjoy a distinct advantage over breakfast skippers.

In terms of weight loss, researchers found that even if you eat a big breakfast, you’re likely to fare better at the end of the day than those who skip breakfast entirely or opt for smaller meals, Keith says.

Indeed, one study revealed that subjects who consumed a high-carbohydrate, high-protein breakfast and followed a low-carbohydrate Atkins-type diet throughout the rest of the day actually had more success losing and keeping off weight than subjects who avoided big breakfasts and consumed only a low-carbohydrate diet.

After 8 months, subjects following the exclusively low-carbohydrate diet throughout the day lost an average of 10 pounds, while those who started out with a big breakfast and followed a low-carbohydrate regimen for the rest of the day lost a total of almost 40 pounds.

While these findings may strike some as counterintuitive, Keith says there is a straightforward explanation for this — namely, the added jolt the extra breakfast carbohydrates and protein provide throughout the day.

“One benefit of these bigger breakfasts is that you’re getting those cravings associated with carbohydrates and proteins out of the way earlier in the day, so that you don’t crave them later,” Keith says.

“You don’t feel as hungry,” he says, adding that this also increases the likelihood of sticking with your diet.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at July 9, 2008 11:07 AM