2023-09-17 07:57:48
by Anna Fregonara
The answers to the most common questions: is it true that it is the most important meal? Do those who eat breakfast gain less weight? Is it healthy to skip it if you choose “intermittent fasting”?
What if there was one simple change you could make to increase your energy and live healthier longer? Apparently there is: studies increasingly seem to show that eating breakfast can unlock these benefits.
The recommendations
It is no coincidence that it is said to be the most important meal of the day and the clue that explains why is already in its name: in English “breakfast” means “breaking” the fast, giving the body its first significant caloric intake after several hours of food deprivation.
«Eating breakfast is considered a healthy lifestyle, so much so that it is recommended in all the guidelines for healthy eating», begins Licia Iacoviello, professor of Public Health at the University of Insubria in Varese, director of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the Irccs Neuromed of Pozzilli and vice-president of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition (Sinu).
The scientific evidence
«But what is the scientific evidence on the importance of breakfast? There are many works, with results that are not always in agreement, and meta-analyses, those studies that bring together the results from different studies with identical or similar clinical questions, help to summarize the data and bring out possible explanations to be explored further. It has thus been seen that people who give it up have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes: in particular, this risk seems to increase when you skip it for at least four days a week. It also seems that this effect is partly due to the body mass index, which is lower in subjects who usually eat breakfast. Breakfast is also associated with increased satiety and appetite regulation.” It has been observed that those who skip breakfast have an altered lipid profile and poorer glycemic control. «More recently – underlines Licia Iacoviello – it has been seen that those who usually do not eat breakfast, and therefore have a prolonged fasting time, tend to have a more marked inflammatory response after lunch, and inflammation is a risk factor not only for diabetes, but also for other chronic pathologies, such as cardiovascular and tumor diseases.” Those who eat breakfast also seem to have healthier habits and better well-being: «They smoke less, move more, have the feeling of a better quality of life and sleep, are less stressed and follow the Mediterranean diet more, known for its its anti-inflammatory properties”, specifies the expert. «And even if it introduces more calories it has a greater intake of fiber and micronutrients, in particular calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and group B vitamins, which are fundamental because they contribute to providing the body with everything it needs to function properly».
The time affects consumption
The time spent at the table is also important, as emerges from research published in the Journal of Translational Medicine. «The more time you spend eating breakfast and lunch (at least 20 minutes each), the less you suffer from hypertension and hypercholesterolemia because you are not inclined to mess with food during the day», adds Annamaria Colao, professor of Endocrinology at the University Federico II of Naples and co-author of the study. «Furthermore, according to the principles of chrononutrition, the morning is the time in which we must collect energy for the day and in particular some hormones that regulate the metabolism of sugars, including insulin, are produced in a better and more physiological way morning, so what we eat is used in a more useful way and is not “stored” in the body.”
Does it make you lose weight or not?
Does it make you lose weight or not? In the food hierarchy it would therefore seem to make sense that breakfast has a special place compared to other meals.
One of the aspects in which the scientific literature’s response, however, is less clear concerns the relationship between skipping breakfast and weight loss or gain. An analysis published in Nutrients concluded that there is minimal evidence that skipping breakfast can lead to overweight and obesity. The debate on the topic was increased by a 2019 research published in the British Medical Journal: from the analysis of 13 studies it emerged that consuming the morning meal does not seem to be a reliable way to lose weight and that skipping it probably does not lead to growth in weight: what makes the difference is above all what you eat. «The scientific evidence is inconclusive in linking the need to eat breakfast and weight loss or the prevention of obesity», specifies Mauro Serafini, professor of human nutrition at the University of Teramo.
«If we need to lose weight, breakfast certainly plays a role if balanced compared to lunch and dinner, from the perspective of the nutritionist who will provide us with specific indications for the objective. It is not enough to eat breakfast, regardless of what you eat during the day, to maintain well-being or lose weight, it becomes quite useless to have a breakfast in line with the nutritional recommendations if you then do not respect the same for subsequent meals. It is the sum that makes the total, always, especially from an energy and nutritional balance perspective. Furthermore, the activity we carry out must also be considered: if we have to face physically intense work, a breakfast that provides the necessary energy is essential. If we have a sedentary profession, a couple of biscuits and some dried fruit may be enough to get to lunch without problems.”
Skipping breakfast during “intermittent fasting”
«We have no scientific evidence on the fact that extending the fasting hours by skipping breakfast has an anti-inflammatory role – adds Serafini -. The discussion on the various time-window fasts does not clearly tell us how many and which hours should be the subject of abstaining from food. In order to reduce post-prandial inflammation and the increase in cardiovascular risk factors it is more important to focus on eating little and early in the evening, around 7.30pm, 8pm, in line with the circadian rhythms, our internal clocks that regulate all those functions of the organism not governed by our will. Chrononutrition currently tells us that those with nocturnal habits, “owls” who eat more and a lot in the evening, have a greater risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases compared to “larks”, people who wake up early and eat early evening, at least three hours before going to bed. In this way they optimize their hours of sleep without running into post-prandial inflammatory stress from a heavy, late dinner.”
September 17, 2023 (changed September 17, 2023 | 07:57)
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