Eggs, toast, maybe fruit, yogurt and granola… Most of us have been brought up to believe beginning the day with a wholesome meal kickstarts the metabolism and fuels the brain. But then – confusion! – the experts started to disagree. Sue Quinn attempts to unscramble the arguments
reakfast is a mystifying business these days. Once hailed as the most important meal of the day, its benefits have recently been called into question. Some experts still maintain a balanced morning meal gives the best possible start to the day and stops you overeating later; others argue that skipping breakfast can aid weight loss and improve your health in a host of different ways. Who on earth do we believe?
THE SCIENCE ISN’T CLEAR CUT
The UK’s official health advice is not to skip breakfast. Says the NHS: “You could miss out on essential nutrients and you may end up snacking more throughout the day because you feel hungry.”
Some studies do show that people who frequently skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight and have a higher risk of heart disease. But skipping breakfast in itself may not be the cause of these problems, argues Professor Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiologist and nutrition expert at King’s College London.
In his book, Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food Is Wrong, he points out that breakfast skippers generally have lower incomes and poorer diets overall than breakfast eaters, which might account for the results. “All these social factors are independently associated with being overweight and the association has nothing to do with eating breakfast.” Studies suggest that for some people (but not all), skipping breakfast “can actually be a useful strategy to reduce weight”, Prof Spector continues.
EAT BREAKFAST LATER
Dr Sarah Berry, a nutritional scientist at King’s College London, says the benefits some people see from skipping breakfast – weight reduction and improved metabolic health, for example – may simply be due to extending their overnight fast and narrowing their ‘eating window’, known as time-restricted eating.
Dr Berry says mounting evidence suggests that giving our digestive system a break in this way supports healthy levels of insulin (the hormone that helps control the glucose in our bloodstream) and encourages healthy gut bacteria, all of which have health benefits.
You don’t have to skip breakfast to do this. In fact, the most effective form of time-restricted eating is an early evening meal followed by 14 hours of fasting, says Dr Berry. Many people find it more convenient to skip break
