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The Pinecone
|
March 2016 • 5 •
BREAKFAST
Reasons to Eat a Protein-Packed
Eating breakfast isn’t just for kids. Although you’ve probably
stopped growing, your body is constantly renewing itself,
replenishing your skin, hair and nails, replacing old tissues with
new, breaking down and rebuilding bone and generally keeping
your body in the best shape possible.
How does your body do it? Your body does it with the nutrients
food delivers. Breakfast is especially important because after a
long night’s sleep, the body is low on energy, protein, vitamins and
minerals. So that’s one really good reason to eat breakfast. How
about five more?
1. Breakfast-skipping is linked with being overweight:
Although a direct effect of skipping breakfast on weight has yet
to be determined, studies indicate that people who skip breakfast
are more likely to be overweight or obese. One large study found
that breakfast skippers were 4.5 times more likely to be heavy than
those who ate breakfast
1
. Obesity was also related to how many
meals were eaten out
1
, so when you get the chance, make your
breakfast (and pack your lunch) at home!
2. Breakfast helps you balance out your protein:
Americans get plenty of protein, but we tend to eat most of it at the
dinner meal. Protein is essential for developing and maintaining
lean muscle, but if we’re not getting enough protein throughout the
day, muscle maintenance is not at the maximum level
2
. And when
we finally get some protein at dinner, it’s largely wasted because
the body can only use so much at one time. Use breakfast to pump
up your protein. Protein can come from a variety of sources, not
just meat and dairy, which are high in fat and cholesterol. Consider
green leafy plants (kale and spinach), nuts, legumes, and beans
are all great sources of protein. They also contain no cholesterol.
Another benefit of protein in the morning is that it’s likely to keep
you full longer, as another study found. Those who ate protein at
breakfast said they felt satisfied longer than those who at the same
amount of protein at other meals
3
.
3. Breakfast is packed with the nutrients most of us don’t get
enough of:
Pastries and fatty breakfast meats don’t count, but if you stick to
breakfast foods like whole-grain cereal and soymilk or almond
milk, fruit and eggs and whole grain toast, you’re much more
likely to meet your daily dose of necessary nutrition. Those who
skip breakfast tend to have lower levels of calcium, potassium,
magnesium, phosphorus and zinc, vitamins A, E, B6, C and folate
4
.
4. Eating breakfast benefits blood sugar and cholesterol levels:
A small study found that when lean, healthy women skipped
breakfast, their fasting blood sugar was higher, along with their
cholesterol, upping their risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and
heart disease. Skipping breakfast caused the women to eat more
throughout the day than when they ate breakfast, too
5
.
5. Skipping breakfast won’t save you calories:
It may seem like eliminating a whole meal must lead to weight loss,
but the opposite appears to be true. Many studies have found that
those who skip breakfast tend to eat more during the day and are
more likely to be overweight or obese (see Number 1 above). One
study found that skipping breakfast is associated with higher risks
of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, metabolic syndrome
and high blood pressure. Whether those diseases resulted from the
extra weight non-breakfast eaters tend to carry or from skipping
breakfast itself needs further research
6
.
For additional information, please contact Billy Johnson or Jason
Sparrow OTD, OTR/L at 366-1819.
We look forward to seeing you at
our Smart Moves Presentation
in the PAC on March 14th.
References:
1
Yunsheng M, Bertone ER, Stanek, EJ et al. Association
between eating patterns and obesity in free-living US adult population. Am.
J. Epidemiol. 2003; 158 (1):85-92.
2
Symons TB, Sheffield-Moore M, Wolfe
RR, Paddon-Jones D. A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally
stimulates skeletal muscle protein in young and elderly subjects. J Am
Diet Assoc. 2009; 109(9):1582-6.
3
Leidy HJ, Bossingham MJ, Mattes RD,
Campbell WW. Increased dietary protein consumed at breakfast leads to an
initial and sustained feeling of fullness during energy restriction compared
to other meal times. Br J Nutr. 2009;101(6):798-203.
4
Kant AK, Andon MB,
Angelopoulos TJ, Rippe JM. Association of breakfast energy density with
diet quality and body mass index in American adults: National Health and
Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999-2004. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;88(5)1396-
1404.
5
Farshchi HR, Taylor MA, Macdonald IA. Deleterious effects of
omitting breakfast on insulin sensitivity and fasting lipid profiles in healthy
lean women. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 81 no 2 388-396.
6
Odegaard AO, Jacobs
DR Jr., Steffen LM, et al. Breakfast frequency and development of metabolic
risk. Diabetes Care 2013; doi:10.2337/dc13-0316.