When I was a kid my mom told me that breakfast is important and that I’ll perform better during the day after a nutritive breakfast. Social media lets us know that we’re gaining weight when skipping breakfast, commercials tell us that breakfast boosts our metabolism, and parenting guidelines that our kids will concentrate and perform better with a tummy full of breakfast. Just to mention some of the common beliefs about breakfast.
But is it really that important? If you don’t have a couple of minutes to spare to read on and if you already skipped your breakfast: don’t worry and carry on, all good!
For everyone who likes to dig a bit deeper: there are quite a couple of observational studies around that on first sight confirm these assertions. The point is that many of these studies don’t consider other factors that can lead to the same outcome like general health behaviors, overall calorie intake, stress, etc. With these additional factors in mind, indeed breakfast eaters might be healthier but that doesn’t mean eating breakfast is the prime mover.
On the other hand it doesn’t mean that observational studies aren’t useful, we just need to look at the whole picture and not only cherry pick what we like to see. It’s like “where there is smoke, there’s fire”: it’s not only the flame that makes a fire, it’s the quality of the fuel, humidity, oxygen, etc. Yes kids who eat regularly breakfast at school may have better grades but is it really the breakfast or is it showing up regularly, spending more time at school, spending times with friends, exchange more with like-minded, that elevates the grades? Like so often there’s no black-and-white approach and if there are benefits in eating breakfast for your overall health, then they are simply a piece of a way bigger picture. E.g. balanced diet, exercise, adequate sleep, stress management, healthy behavior, social environment, etc. Thus, if you enjoy eating breakfast at best in company of loved ones please continue, but if you’re not hungry in the morning and a cup of coffee is all you need to get you started that’s fine too. What you’re eating and doing the rest of the day is what counts!
If you like to dig even deeper and like to go through the studies that reinforce my assertions or if you like to learn more about a balanced and healthy diet and lifestyle please reach out.
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