Response to NY Times Article: Breakfast or No Breakfast?

Last week while reading the news, I came across this New York Times article on the "breakfast myth." I'd encourage you to read it, but in summary, it discusses new studies/speculation coming out that the long held belief that eating breakfast promotes long term weight loss (or more successful weight management) is, in fact, a myth.

Interesting thought, and for a small percentage of the population, that may be true. However, I think they failed to consider some pretty important points.

In an ideal world, for a 100% healthy individual with totally regulated blood sugar and daily cortisol output, perfect gut health and hormonal balance, sure, skipping breakfast will likely not have an effect and is actually included in intermittent fasting routines of some wellness professionals such as Chris Kresser, L.Ac and functional medicine practitioner. However, the reality is that the majority of us do not fall into this category, and therefore may very likely feel ill effects of skipping breakfast and starting our day only with a cup of coffee. Also, the article failed to distinguish between different foods, which is an extremely important component to the breakfast debate.

So, what really constitutes a healthy breakfast?

The SAD (Standard American Diet) teaches us that beginning the day with a whole grain cereal makes a world of difference from your typical sugar cereal that most have come around to agree are not a great way to begin the day. However, even a bran or whole grain type of cereal, while it might be a touch better than the above mentioned choice, is still blasting the body with a carb-only breakfast and therefore not providing it with the essential nutrients (namely quality fats and proteins) that it needs to maintain stable blood sugar throughout the day (especially if we struggle with blood sugar ups/downs and other hormonal imbalances).

Again, if you are one of the lucky individuals who have top tier health and want to experiment with beginning your day sans breakfast, go for it! See how you feel. But, for the rest of us that may deal with that late afternoon energy crash, sugar cravings throughout the day, feeling really hungry only shortly after eating breakfast, and/or late night cravings...lets look at some good, quick, healthy breakfast options to support all of our body systems for the day to come:

• 2 soft or hard boiled eggs with 1/2 an avocado sprinkled with sea salt/pepper.
• Chicken or turkey sausage with a handful of spinach (or other greens), add some sauerkraut and avocado for healthy fat and probiotics.
• Frittata. This is a great option to make ahead of time and eat throughout the week/on the go.
• Dinner leftovers
• Smoked salmon with tomato, cucumber, avocado
• Coconut flour muffins

These are just a few ideas, but get creative! Begin trying to shift your idea of what "should be" breakfast, and think real, whole food. You will likely reap the benefits throughout the day to come.