Breakfast Misunderstood

Breakfast has long been regarded as the most important meal of the day. Multiple studies have shown that eating breakfast helps people of all ages and has benefits to those trying to lose weight. One problem with this age old wisdom is that it is often misunderstood. I think most people interpret “most important” as it meaning you should eat a large breakfast. 

A recent study led by German researchers points out that the only thing eating a large breakfast does is expand your waistline. So what do we do?  We’ve been told it’s super important to eat breakfast. Should we stop eating breakfast if it’s making us fat? The simple answer is NO. Everyone should eat breakfast, a real breakfast, not breakfast out of a package on the way to work. Breakfast literally sets the stage for your meals throughout the day and I’ll tell you how.

Before I get into what you should eat, let me first talk about blood sugar. Your blood sugar has profound effects on your eating habits throughout the day. Your goal throughout the day should be to eat foods that cause only the smallest increases in blood sugar. If you have a normal blood sugar level, your cravings for food are not as severe. If your blood sugar drops too low, you can get shaky, irritable and HUNGRY. When it gets too high, you will have other problems, but I won’t get into that today. For right now, let’s talk about the drop in blood sugar.  We know that sugary foods and starches cause blood sugar to jump up and that insulin lowers the blood sugar levels to normal levels. 

When you eat foods that spike blood sugar, it shoots down rapidly causing a “crash”. The crash is what makes you irritable, hungry and shaky. This is when you search out the closest vending machine and start buying the junk food to kill the craving. When you eat the junk food, it just perpetuates the cycle of crashes and spikes. Then, by the end of the day, you feel run down and have gorged yourself on junk the entire day. Before you know it, a year has passed, you've gained 20lbs, and you can't figure out why. When you eat foods that cause modest increases in blood sugar, you have a nice smooth curve back down to a normal level and your food cravings aren’t as severe, you don’t get shaky, and you are not irritable.

What should we avoid during breakfast in order to prevent the daily crash?

1.  Cereal. Cereal causes a spike in blood sugar. What is not often said is that cow’s milk causes a spike in insulin. Now we have a recipe for getting hungry very soon. The cereal spikes your blood sugar, the milk aides in the insulin response causing your blood sugar to plummet, and now you are jittery, angry, and hungry again. People say cereal is a healthy breakfast because it has fiber. Please, people, if you want fiber, eat berries, an apple, or some cantaloupe, just don’t get your fiber from grains.
2. Bagels. Pretty much for reasons I’ve stated above. Sugar spike, crash, hungry, irritable, shaky. Bagels are loaded with fat and carbs...it's a diabetic's nightmare.
3. Fruit Juice. Fruit juice is practically sugar with a little bit of vitamins and minerals. Eat whole fruit, skip the juice.
4. Hashbrowns, homefries, grits, pancakes, syrup, waffles, toast…pretty much anything made from sugar flour or potatoes.

So what should our breakfast consist of? 

Eggs are actually an incredibly healthy option. I recommend free-range chicken eggs as they are higher in healthy fats and are just better tasting in general. We also need to break away from the idea that certain foods are reserved for breakfast. Why not have a grilled grass-fed filet mignon? Or some delicious wild salmon?  Why not healthy bison strips? Sides of non-starchy vegetables and whole fruits like berries and melon? Break away from a regular bacon and egg breakfast!

A colleague of mine, Dr. Wayne Broth, takes daily pictures of meals he has cooked. I asked if I could post some of his breakfast plate pictures on here to show that breakfast doesn’t have to be the same stuff everyday of your life. It can be fun, it can be healthy, and it can be delicious. Please feel free to try any of them; they are as great looking as they are delicious! 

A Big Breakfast May Make You Fat After All, Study Finds

Glycemic Response in Healthy Adults