- Is the first meal of the day really the most important
meal of the day?
Maybe.
If it involves pancakes.
What's up internet?
I'm Wil Fulton and this is "GutBusted," a weekly show
where we try to debunk
some of the most prevailing myths about food,
you know, weekly.
You've probably heard the saying,
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"You need a good meal to start your day off right."
"Hey Wil, don't eat ice cream for breakfast, you big idiot."
OK, that last one might just be me.
- Are you sure that's the best thing for you right now?
- No it's the best thing on the menu.
- But I am wondering, does the first meal of the day
really carry any extra importance?
This is an excellent question
for one of my colleagues at Seeker, Natalia Reagan.
- Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
Well this is a surprisingly complicated question actually,
and I'm gonna need you to sit down,
and I'm gonna need some more coffee before I answer it.
OK, for example, kids who eat nutritious breakfast
tend to have better cognitive performances in school,
especially on task-oriented behaviors,
and in one US study that analyzed the health data of
50,000 people over seven years,
researchers found that people who made breakfast
their biggest meal of the day
had lower BMI than those people who made lunch
or dinner their biggest meal.
The researchers in this case argue that
a bigger breakfast can reduce overall daily caloric intake,
and improve overall quality of your diet,
meaning it might stop you from overeating
later on in the day.
Like I do pretty much every day.
And studies have shown that skipping breakfast
has been associated with a 27% increase in heart disease,
a 21% increase in diabetes in men,
and a 20% increase in diabetes for women.
So there's that.
And in a UK study of 1,600 children,
it was shown that those who ate breakfast,
including fortified cereals,
had higher rates of fiber and nutrients,
like folly, vitamin C, iron, and calcium, in their system.
So in some ways,
sure it can help you start your day off right.
"Breakfast of champions," they say.
- OK, so it does kind of sound like breakfast
might be important.
- Well here's the thing, everyone is different,
and the whole "you need three square meals a day,"
isn't necessarily correct.
We don't need to base our diets on such a rigid schedule.
A lot of dietitians just think most people
can eat when they are hungry,
and don't need to force down a breakfast meal
if you don't want to.
So if you don't want to, don't do it.
It also greatly depends on what you're eating for breakfast,
of course.
And that really makes all the difference.
Bad news for Americans,
who might crush 12 bowls of Lucky Charms
and wash it down with a shot glass of bacon fat.
Amen to that.
Although studies have shown
that if you're gonna eat high sugar foods,
the best time to do it is in the a.m.
Instead of thinking about whether breakfast, as a meal,
is important, maybe we should be thinking about
what we're eating for breakfast.
Put down the donut maybe,
have some egg whites,
not a shot glass of bacon, don't do that.
Please don't do that.
- Mmmm.
- Well that's a good point.
And do you know why bacon and eggs
is traditionally thought of as a real American breakfast?
In the 1920s, the Beech-Nut Packing Company
wanted to increase bacon sales in America.
With the help of an ad agency,
they got over 5,000 doctors to publicly declare
in hundreds of nationwide magazines and newspapers
that Americans needed a heavier breakfast,
you know, for health:
namely, bacon and eggs.
- Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have.
- While admittedly fun to eat at any time of the day,
the prevalence of bacon and eggs as a breakfast food
in America is very much a result of a marketing stunt.
So, compare this with traditional
breakfast foods around the world,
like fish or tofu and fermented soy beans in Japan,
or a toasted baguette with jam and some fruit in France,
and you can see why our idea of breakfast
might not be the most in line with our ideal health.
As far as the importance of the meal in general,
it is what you make it.
So if you want bacon,
just make sure you're willing to accept the consequences.
The delicious, fragrant, greasy consequences.
For more "Daily Hit" videos,
including more episodes of "GutBusted,"
subscribe to our channel.
And for more about breakfast,
click the link in our description.
Now if you want to find out if Champagne
gives you a hangover, check out the link right to my left.