Breakfast 'keeps teenagers lean'

[Demi]

BBC News Online
London, UK
4 March, 2008


Breakfast 'keeps teenagers lean'

Body-conscious teenagers may believe cutting out breakfast will help them lose weight, but the opposite appears to be the case, US research suggests.

In a five year study of more than 2,000 youngsters, those who skipped breakfast were found to weigh about 5lbs (2.3kg) more than those who ate first thing.

This was despite the fact that the breakfast-eaters consumed more calories in the course of the day.

But the study in Pediatrics found they were likely to be much more active.

The University of Minnesota research adds weight to a growing body of evidence that those who eat breakfast - whether young or old - are leaner than those who do not.

"It may seem counter-intuitive," said Mark Pereira, who led the research. "But while they ate more calories, they did more to burn those off, and that may be because those who ate breakfast did not feel so lethargic.

"While it's best to go for a healthy option - a wholegrain cereal for instance - the evidence does seem to suggest that eating anything is better than eating nothing at all."

Mixed messages

Around 25% of the group studied regularly missed breakfast, and the problem was particularly pronounced among young women.

"It's not just a girl problem, but it is certainly more of an issue among this group," said Mr Pereira.

"They skip breakfast because they worry about weight gain - and it's ironic that the ones who aren't worried and eat in the mornings are the ones who keep their weight down."

Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation at the National Obesity Forum, said the findings of the study showed just how important it was to relay a clear and consistent message to young people.

"The real problem is the profusion of messages about obesity. We need to make clear that eating regular meals is vital - and that a proper breakfast is very important.

"If you eat well first thing, you'll feel brighter, you'll have more get up and go - and that will mean you'll expend more energy."

Teenagers are not the only ones who may benefit from sitting down to a proper breakfast.

In a study of nearly 7,000 middle-aged people in Norfolk, a team from Cambridge University found that those who ate the most in the morning put on the least amount of weight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7275554.stm

[Demi]

From Dr Briffa's blog:

Is eating breakfast a key to successful weight control?

Posted By Dr John Briffa On 3rd March 2008

Over the years, I’ve spoken to or have been consulted by a fair few people who, by their own admission, don’t have the best eating habits. A quite common picture I see involves the skipping or breakfast, a sandwich-centric lunch, followed by general overeating in the evening. This will usually entail some snacking before supper (e.g. cheese, bread, crackers, crisps…), and perhaps some more food after the main meal too (biscuits, chocolate, ice cream). Having had their fill of what seems likes way too much food the night before, individuals will generally eschew breakfast once more, and so the cycle repeats.

My experience tells me that if these individuals want to get control over their eating (and for this to be relatively pain-free), then some sort of breakfast needs to be eaten. Without this meal, I find that very rarely can someone comfortably make better food choices and lose weight if this is an issue.

I was therefore interested to read a study just published in the journal Pediatrics which assessed the relationship between breakfast eating and body mass index over in 2216 adolescents [1]. The eating habits of the study participants were assessed at the start of the study and then 5 years later. Basically, what the researchers found was the skipping breakfast was found to be associated with increased body mass index. Also, the more breakfasts were skipped, the greater BMI tended to be. These findings are in keeping with previous research linking skipped breakfast with an enhanced tendency to gain weight.

Studies of this nature (epidemiological studies) cannot prove that skipping breakfast causes weight gain. It might be, of course, that individuals who are, say, overweight and therefore weight-conscious are more likely to skip breakfast in an effort to control their weight. In fact, this study did find that individuals who were attempting to lose weight were more likely to skip breakfast, which is consistent with the idea that some adolescents may skip breakfast in an attempt to lose weight.

However, it should be borne in mind, I think, that there are potential mechanisms through which skipping breakfast might cause weight gain in the long term.

1. Caloric restriction (e.g. through skipping meals) can cause the metabolic rate to stall, making the conversion of food into energy less efficient.

2. Skipping breakfast can mean an over-ravenous appetite at lunch which can lead to a preference for carbohydrate-based meals (e.g. bread, pasta) that, through the secretion of insulin, may be more likely to lead to fat deposition in the body.

3. Skipping breakfast can lead to the general over-consumption of food later in the day. This is certainly my usual experience in practice, and there is some evidence to support this phenomenon too. In one study, the diet diaries of almost 800 men and women were examined [2]. Their food and calorific intake was assessed for each of five, four-hour periods stretching from 6 am to 2 am the following day. The results of this study showed that those who had consumed the bulk of their food near the end of the day ate, on average, significantly more calories than individuals who ate more substantial amounts of food early on. In addition to assessing food intake over the course of each day, the researchers also calculated how effective each meal was at sating the appetite. The so-called ‘satiety index’ of each meal was calculated by dividing the number of calories it contained into the time that elapsed before another meal or snack was eaten. Interestingly, food eaten later in the day was found to satisfy less, calorie for calorie, than food eaten earlier in the day,

It’s one thing eating breakfast, and another thing eating a healthy one. Personally, I advise against pre-packaged breakfast cereals (http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2004/04/11/breakfast/) on a number of counts, including their ability to upset blood sugar and insulin levels and low nutritional content.

One option I’ve found works well for most people is Bircher muesli. The main ingredients I recommend for this are oats, plain yoghurt, nuts (e.g. ground almonds) and/or seeds and some dried fruit. This blend can be mixed with water to make the consistency of porridge. One batch will last the whole week in an airtight container in the fridge. This breakfast is made up of relatively natural unprocessed foods, is nutritionally varied, and it doesn’t take much of it (in terms of volume) to do the trick in terms of sating the appetite. It can be had at home or, if relevant, taken to work and eaten once in the office or even on the way.

References:

1. Timlin MT, et al. Breakfast eating and weight change in a 5-year prospective analysis of adolescents: project EAT (Eating Among Teens) Pediatrics 2008;121:e638-645

2. de Castro JM. The time of day of food intake influences overall intake in humans. Journal of Nutrition 2004 134:104-111


http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2008/03/03/is-eating-breakfast-a-key-to-successful-weight-control/

[amandawald]

Since low-carbing, I've been keeping a food diary and I can see quite clearly that on those days when I don't have eggs for breakfast, I end up snacking mid-morning because, by then, I'm absolutely starving and have to have something NOW - which is usually something I can grab like bread or chocolate or fruit yoghurt or a banana. This keeps me going for another two hours and then by lunchtime, I'm starving again - if I haven't got the lunch ready, I'll be tempted to go for another carby snack...

But that's just me. The other members of my family don't have this propensity and I don't feel I should force them to eat if they say they aren't hungry. Certainly not my husband, who has never eaten breakfast in all the time I've known him.

My feeling is that those people who have got fat from too many carbs are probably (according to Dr Briffa's typology in "The True You Diet" - great book) "hunter" types like me who burn carbs very quickly and who really NEED to have a protein/fat based breakfast to keep going all morning without getting hungry. If you are more a "gatherer", you can probably get away without having so much to eat at breakfast, because you won't get ravenous in the same way so quickly.

And although Dr Briffa recommends muesli, not even slow-burning oats do it for me. I used to eat a huge bowl of home-made, unsugared, muesli for breakfast and I was still starving 2-3 hours later. For some of us, carbs - in whatever form - just don't cut the mustard!

amandawood

[oakdryad]

I love how they always seem to recommend *wholegrain cereals* or muesli or oats. I used to eat steel cut oatmeal regularly for breakfast and would wonder why I was starving just a couple of hours later.

Now I eat chicken or steak (or some other meaty goodness) for breakfast, along with some other LC good stuff, and I'm still fine 5 or 6 hours later. And on the days when I decide to IF, I don't have problem making those good LC choices even after a 19-22 hour fast.