What is Breakfast?

Breakfast is unique because it breaks a time of fasting (after a night of sleep). You are considered a breakfast eater if you eat your first meal of the day following your longest period of sleep, within 2 to 3 hours of waking and if your meal contains food or beverage from at least one food group. Your breakfast should provide at least 15% of your total daily caloric needs.

Should You Eat Breakfast?

Approximately one in five Americans are “breakfast skippers”. Skipping breakfast, as part of time-restricted eating patterns, such as intermittent fasting, has become increasingly popular as a weight management strategy. However, scientific evidence to support this is lacking. Many scientific studies have shown that breakfast skippers are at an increased risk for weight gain (e.g., increased hunger driving hormones, increased hunger throughout the day) and chronic disease.

A study comparing breakfast eaters to breakfast skippers found that those who ate breakfast had a decrease in appetite, improvement in healthy food choices and improved sleep quality. In addition, a study published in 2018 compared the effects of breakfast and dinner skipping in adult men and women. The study revealed that breakfast skipping, but not dinner skipping, negatively impacted the body’s ability to control blood sugar and insulin.

Research suggests that breakfast is important, but simply eating breakfast may only be half the battle. The true victory comes when you eat a high-quality breakfast packed full of protein and nutrients.

A Balanced Breakfast with Protein

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans who eat breakfast consume too little protein at their breakfast meal and instead, eat the majority of their daily protein at dinner. The higher amount of protein (greatly exceeding 30g of protein) typically consumed at dinner time cannot be stored for later use and is either used for energy or stored as fat.

Figure 1: Protein Distribution between Meals. Adapted from Paddon-Jones and Rasmussen, 2009

 

A high protein breakfast has been shown to benefit muscle health and to support weight loss by increasing muscle mass, energy expenditure (calories burned), satiety hormones, glucose regulation and by decreasing the desire to snack at night .

High protein breakfasts have also been shown to improve the body’s response to a high carbohydrate food up to 4-hours after the breakfast meal. A recent study looked at the effect of a high protein breakfast compared to a high fat or high carbohydrate breakfast on the body’s ability to control glucose and insulin following the consumption of white bread four hours after the breakfast meal. Participants consuming a high protein breakfast (30% protein) had improved blood sugar control and insulin levels after consuming the white bread.

Conclusion

Although breakfast may be the most frequently skipped meal in America, it continues to live up to its reputation as the most important meal of the day. So, when making your next breakfast choice, consider how much protein you have on your plate. Your first meal of the day can have long lasting effects throughout your day and on your long-term health!

References

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  2. Astbury NM, Taylor MA and Macdonald IA. Breakfast Consumption Affects Appetite, Energy Intake, and the Metabolic and Endocrine Responses to Foods Consumed Later in the Day in Male Habitual Breakfast Eaters. The Journal of Nutrition. 2011; 141(7).
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  4. Baum JI, Gray M and Binns A. Breakfasts higher in protein increase postprandial energy expenditure, increase fat oxidation, and reduce hunger in overweight children from 8 to 12 years of age. The Journal of nutrition. 2015; 145(10):2229-2235.
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  8. Paddon-Jones D, Campbell WW, Jacques PF, Kritchevsky SB, Moore LL, Rodriguez NR and van Loon LJ. Protein and healthy aging. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015; 101(6):1339S-1345S.
  9. Chanet A, Verlaan S, Salles J, Giraudet C, Patrac V, Pidou V, Pouyet C, Hafnaoui N, Blot A, Cano N, Farigon N, Bongers A, Jourdan M, et al. Supplementing Breakfast with a Vitamin D and Leucine-Enriched Whey Protein Medical Nutrition Drink Enhances Postprandial Muscle Protein Synthesis and Muscle Mass in Healthy Older Men. J Nutr. 2017; 147(12):2262-2271.
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