The Case for a Breakfast Feast

[elleng]

'Many of us grab coffee and a quick bite in the morning and eat more as the day goes on, with a medium-size lunch and the largest meal of the day in the evening. But a growing body of research on weight and health suggests we may be doing it all backward.

A recent review of the dietary patterns of 50,000 adults who are Seventh Day Adventists over seven years provides the latest evidence suggesting that we should front-load our calories early in the day to jump-start our metabolisms and prevent obesity, starting with a robust breakfast and tapering off to a smaller lunch and light supper, or no supper at all.

More research is needed, but a series of experiments in animals and some small trials in humans have pointed in the same direction, suggesting that watching the clock, and not just the calories, may play a more important role in weight control than previously acknowledged. . .

In earlier experiments in mice, Dr. Panda and his colleagues found that when the animals were given unlimited access to a high-fat diet — “the equivalent of humans eating only ice cream, cheese and nachos” — they became obese in nine or 10 weeks, and developed insulin resistance or diabetes and high cholesterol a few weeks later. But when the mice had access to the high-fat diet for only eight hours a day, they did not become obese or diabetic, even though they consumed the same amount of calories as the animals who ate round the clock.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/well/eat/the-case-for-a-breakfast-feast.html?

[Binkie The Clown]

1. My stomach has never liked eating too early, or too late.

A big breakfast makes me feel bloated all day, and a late meal leaves me uncomfortable all night. I prefer eating only two meals a day; my large meal around 10:00-11:00 and my second, much smaller, meal around 4:00-5:00 in the afternoon.

In some versions of Buddhism the monks eat only one meal a day in mid morning. There are also many different versions of "intermittent fasting", such as only eating during a specific 6-hour or 8-hour window each day and fasting for the rest of the day (as do the animals in that study). These result in a similar eating patterns, and seem to be beneficial as well.

In any case, stuffing our faces all day every day certainly seems to be a recipe for bad health!

[Mosby]

2. the other big mistake people make

Is that breakfasts should be mostly carbs, dinner is where you want to get your protein.

[CrispyQ]

3. "Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon, and a pauper at night."

I always do better when I consume my major calories in the morning.

[Suburban Warrior]

4. Intermittent Fasting

is the way to go.

[Warpy]

5. Breakfast is actually a late invention

If people were hungry in the morning before the started work, it was scrapings from a pot or a leftover piece of bread, washed down with ale or wine and off to start the day. The big meal was more of a brunch in late morning or even early afternoon because big meals took a lot of time to cook when one first had to build up a fire and do difficult prep, like plucking birds or threshing peas. The midday meal was downright celebratory because everybody was famished by the time it hit the table after they'd all been working hard for several hours. Breakfast arrived with servants who'd get up 2 hours earlier than their masters and later with good food storage and modern stoves.

However, that Seventh Day Adventist rubric of "Breakfast is gold, dinner is silver, supper is lead" does make a lot of nutritional sense. The greasy breakfast of meat and eggs that nauseates me does give the bod a hefty caloric jump start. I have one of their cookbook and their recipes are more palatable for early morning, but lacking a servant, I don't do them.

BTW, if anyone is looking for a fantastic vegan cookbook, I do highly recommend "Ten Talents." The recipes are straightforward, the ingredients obtainable even in the upper midwest, and the woman knows how to cook good food. The bible verses and patriarchy are extras for the people who appreciate that sort of thing.