There are many people who are not breakfast eaters. I listen to some of their excuses for not eating breakfast which include: “I do not have time” or “It’s easier to combine it with lunch,” and so on. Our bodies suffer the consequences. An interesting article in The New York Times shares the following:
“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 [sic] 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. …
“Perhaps not surprisingly, the latest study found that those who supplemented three meals a day with snacks tended to gain weight over time, while those who ate only one or two meals a day tended to lose weight, even compared with those who just ate three meals a day.
“But the researchers also found that those who ate their largest meal early in the day were more likely to have a lower body mass index than those who ate a large lunch or dinner. Breakfast eaters tended to keep their weight down generally, compared with breakfast skippers. The lowest B.M.I.s were recorded in the fraction of people — about 8 percent of the total sample — who finished lunch by early afternoon and did not eat again until the next morning, fasting for 18 to 19 hours.” www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/well/eat/the-case-for-a-breakfast-feast.html
More assets provided through eating breakfast!
“Some reason that because they were not hungry in the morning, skipping breakfast would help them eat fewer calories during the day and would thus favor weight loss. This is a myth. The truth is that eating a good breakfast should be part of any weight loss program.
“Years ago Dr. Charles Cupp proposed that weight gain is the result of inappropriate timing of food intake in relation to the evening sleep time. During a medical practice that spanned a remarkable seven decades, Cupp instructed hundreds of patients on his novel approach to weight control. Overweight patients were instructed to change their meal pattern from a heavy meal and snacks in the evening to a heavy morning meal, moderate lunch, and a light supper. They were to eat their last meal ideally at noon but by no means later than 3:00 p.m., and they were instructed not to go to sleep for at least eight and a half hours after the last intake of food. Of significance, they were not asked to change their food choices nor the amount of calories they ate. Intrigued researchers in the Department of Nutrition at Tulane University’s School of Public Health analyzed the records of 595 of Cupp’s overweight patients. The results of their study are: (All patients who followed his instructions lost weight.)
- Those who ate only breakfast averaged 10 lbs. weight loss a month.
- Those who ate breakfast, lunch, and snacks averaged 5 to 6 lbs. a month.
- Those who lost from 20-30 lbs. showed an increase in hemoglobin level.
- Blood sugar levels of diabetic patients who lost 30 lbs. or more were normalized.
- Hypothyroid patients showed a reduction in daily thyroid maintenance requirements.
“Note that some additional benefits accrued from eating breakfast: improved blood hemoglobin level, reduced blood sugar, and improved thyroid function.
Breakfast and Heart Attacks
“Adults may be able to reduce their risk of heart attacks by eating breakfast regularly. Platelets, the body’s blood clotting cells, become ‘stickier’ in the morning before breakfast. This increases the tendency for a blood clot to form during the morning hours. If such a clot occurs in a heart blood vessel, a heart attack can result. As expected from this physiology, most heart attacks occur between 7 a.m. and 12 noon. Eating breakfast can help the platelets to become less sticky and thus decrease the risk of morning heart attacks.
Breakfast and Mental Capacity
“There are additional benefits from eating a good breakfast beyond longevity. In August of 1995, the Pediatrics Department at the University of California at Davis hosted a number of physiologists, neuro-scientists, nutritionists, and physiologists to review the scientific studies on breakfast. The researchers concluded that the ‘eating of breakfast is important to learning, memory, and physical well-being in both children and adults.’ Good breakfast habits are essential for maximum efficiency, both mental and physical, particularly during the late morning hours. Breakfast eaters demonstrate better attitudes and improved scholastic performance.”
Excerpts from Proof Positive, How to Reliably Combat Disease and Achieve Optimal Health through Nutrition and Lifestyle, Neil Nedley, M.D., pages 5, 6.
Amazing what happens to our bodies and its response to the times we eat. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and we need to preserve what God has given to us. Most of the time it is our own mindset, including our habits, that prevents us from doing what is best.