Did you grow up hearing the old adage, “Break your fast with a healthy breakfast?” Or what about, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
If you are like me then you probably asked, "Where did all this come from?"
I never studied any of these ‘principles’ in textbooks nor have I seen them in any studies that prove that you have to eat oatmeal, eggs and toast for breakfast or some miraculous shake every day to attain a body that society deems as ‘slim’.
The notion that breakfast is essential for good health dates back to the 1920s. During that time, Edward Bernays, a public relations consultant for a pork company, created a nationwide media campaign to encourage the comfort food first thing in the morning was a recipe for wellness. Even scientist got on board. In the following decades there were numerous observational studies that consistently found that people who ate breakfast weighed less. Studies like this got twisted, misconstrued and eventually made into principles that medical professionals, nutritionist, and fitness trainers taught to the public.
There is an inherent problem with this. Correlation doesn’t always mean causation. These observational studies merely showed a correlation between eating breakfast and being leaner. However, the study did not show that eating breakfast caused people to be leaner.
The big picture is often forgotten. None of the studies showed what's under the surface.
Maybe the individuals in the study that woke up in the morning and had breakfast displayed lifestyle habits that are conducive to having a healthy body composition. They could have had habits like moving more throughout the day or exercising on a regular basis. Or they may have prepared there meals for the day and stayed away from trans fats and refined sugar.
Recent controlled studies have randomly divided people into breakfast-eating and breakfast- skipping groups. The evidence clearly showed that eating breakfast is not the cause of staying trim.
So much for the egg whites and oatmeal or meal replacement shake weight loss connection. Nonetheless, while it doesn't seem to be a necessity for good health, there's nothing wrong with eating a nutritious breakfast every morning. But let it be something you like to do and not because it will help you lose 5 pounds by Friday. Whether you want your coconut flour pancakes at 5am or 7pm. The result will be the same. Health is not black and white and we need to stop living in those extremes.
So we can now put that myth to rest.