Three common breakfast combinations are actually very unhealthy. Are you one of them?

Recently, the topic #Skipping breakfast makes you more likely to be overweight# has become a hot topic. The White Paper on Breakfast Behavior of Chinese Residents released by the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned that 53.9% of Chinese residents have no time to eat breakfast, and even 2% never eat breakfast. On weekends, only 70.3% of people eat breakfast every day, and the number of people who never eat breakfast has increased to 11.3%.

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Especially for office workers and those who have trouble getting up, eating breakfast is not easy. Everyone knows that skipping breakfast for a long time is bad for health, and some even say it is "chronic suicide". Does skipping breakfast for a long time really make you fat? What are the dangers?

In fact, skipping breakfast and eating the wrong breakfast are both bad for your health. In this article, we will talk about breakfast and finally tell you how to eat a healthy breakfast.

01

The harm of skipping breakfast for a long time

According to the data in the "White Paper on Breakfast Behavior of Chinese Residents", 53.9% of people in my country said they did not have time to eat breakfast, 26.5% said they did not want to eat breakfast, 15.3% said there was no suitable food for breakfast, and 8.6% did not eat breakfast because they wanted to control their weight, and 4.5% had no habit of eating breakfast at all.

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Skipping breakfast for a long time can cause more harm to your body than just a little bit. There are mainly 7 reasons as follows:

▶ You will gain weight

Some people skip breakfast to control their weight and lose weight, thinking that skipping a meal can reduce the total calorie intake for the whole day and make them lose weight. However, after persisting for a long time, they often find that this is not the case. Not only do they not get the perfect body they want, but they become fatter.

This may be because skipping breakfast for a long time makes the body hungry before the next meal, which makes people crave high-carb, high-fat, high-energy foods, leading to a higher intake of lunch, dinner and snacks. Therefore, people who skip breakfast will consume more calories than those who insist on eating breakfast every day, and their weight will not only not decrease but will increase.

Studies have shown that people who eat breakfast every day have higher dietary nutrient density and quality than those who skip breakfast, which is more conducive to weight control. [1]

Compared with people who skip breakfast, regular breakfast eating is a protective factor for maintaining a healthy weight. People who skip breakfast have a 23% higher risk of gaining 5 kg in 10 years than those who eat breakfast. [1]

In addition, a study published in the Chinese Journal of Circulation also showed that skipping breakfast is associated with overweight/obesity. Compared with people who have the habit of eating breakfast, people who frequently skip breakfast have a 48% increased risk of overweight or obesity and a 31% increased risk of abdominal obesity. [2]

Therefore, skipping breakfast will not help you lose weight. Instead, it will increase the risk of obesity, especially abdominal obesity, which will cause your body shape to become worse and worse.

▶ Not good for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health

Currently, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases cause about 31.8% of the world's population deaths, making them the main cause of death among residents, and the prevalence rate is increasing year by year. In addition to genetic factors, unhealthy diet is the key to inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including skipping breakfast.

A Korean study involving 3,880 subjects showed that skipping breakfast increased the risk of high blood pressure by 36.6%. A Japanese prospective cohort study involving 82,772 subjects showed that eating breakfast could reduce the risk of stroke, cerebral hemorrhage and other diseases. Compared with those who ate breakfast, those who skipped breakfast had an 18% increased risk of stroke and a 36% increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke. [3]

▶ Increases the risk of diabetes

People who often skip breakfast often have a strong appetite for lunch and dinner after a morning of hunger, and may even overeat, which can cause a delay in insulin peak and a decrease in plasma insulin, impairing insulin sensitivity. This not only affects the normal regulation of blood sugar by insulin, but also increases the body’s inflammatory response. Inflammatory changes may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. [3]

Eating breakfast regularly helps regulate appetite, improves blood sugar response, and increases the body's insulin sensitivity to the next meal. Therefore, eating breakfast regularly is also an important part of preventing diabetes.

▶ Increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

People who skip breakfast often consume more energy at lunch and dinner. The excess energy will be stored in the body as fat, increasing the risk of fatty liver.

Studies have shown that the onset and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are closely related to skipping breakfast, which significantly increases the exacerbation and new cases of fatty liver disease and reduces the recovery rate of fatty liver disease. [4]

From this perspective, breakfast is essential if you want to have a healthy liver.

▶ Reduced cognitive ability

Skipping breakfast for a long time will affect the body’s blood sugar levels. Abnormal increases or decreases in blood sugar levels will affect memory and learning ability. Long-term abnormal blood sugar levels will cause damage to brain function. [5]

▶ Prone to gallstones

Skipping breakfast for a long time can increase bile concentration and cause bacteria to multiply in the gallbladder, promoting the formation of gallstones. [6]

▶ Emotional impact

Whether or not to eat breakfast, as well as the quality of breakfast, can affect a person’s mood. Studies have found that people who eat a breakfast rich in carbohydrates are more positive than those who eat a breakfast containing only simple carbohydrates. Nutrients such as protein, calcium, and B vitamins can also affect a person’s mood. [5]

Based on the above studies, skipping breakfast can harm our health in many ways. Some people may be thinking: Fortunately, I eat breakfast every day! Don’t be happy too soon, if you eat breakfast wrong, it is also not good for your health.

02

3 unhealthy breakfast combinations

▶ Fried dough sticks + soy milk

Soy milk and fried dough sticks can be said to be a very traditional breakfast, and it is also a habit of many people. Almost all breakfast shops have them, which is convenient and fast.

Although this combination is quite delicious, eating it often is not good for your health. Youtiao is a fried food, which is not only high in calories, but also contains carcinogens such as acrylamide. In addition, most stores do not frequently replace new oil. After repeated high-temperature frying, cooking oil will also produce trans fatty acids, which is not good for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.

Most of the soy milk used is sugary soy milk, which has low concentration and low nutritional density. This high-fat and high-sugar breakfast combination is not only easy to induce tooth decay and obesity, but also stimulates the occurrence of inflammatory response in the body.

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▶ White rice porridge + pickles

White rice porridge mainly provides carbohydrates, and blood sugar rises quickly after a meal, which is not conducive to blood sugar control. Although pickles can add flavor to breakfast, the high salt content can easily lead to high blood pressure, especially for people who already have high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

▶ Eggs + milk

The nutrients provided by eggs and milk are mainly protein, and they can also provide a small amount of vitamins and minerals, but the calories are low. One egg and 250 ml of milk provide a total of about 230 kcal of calories. You will feel obviously hungry before noon, which will affect your work and study efficiency. It is not enough to eat only these two for breakfast.

Since these three common breakfast combinations are not healthy, how should we eat a healthy breakfast?

03

Eat this way for a healthy breakfast

The "White Paper on Breakfast Behavior of Chinese Residents" shows that more than half of the people in my country do not have a wide variety of breakfast foods, and most people only consider convenience and speed for breakfast and ignore nutritional balance.

A nutritious breakfast should include 4 types of food:

① Cereals and potatoes, such as steamed bread, flower rolls, rice, etc., mainly provide carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals, and are the most economical source of energy;

② Meat and eggs, such as eggs, pork, chicken, beef, fish, etc., mainly provide fat and protein and a variety of vitamins and minerals;

③ Milk and beans, such as pure milk, yogurt, soy milk, etc., mainly provide high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals;

④Fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, apples, bananas, etc., mainly provide a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Simply put, if you want to have a full and good breakfast, follow the following suggestions and eat a variety of foods.

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▶ Have a staple food

Staple foods are an important source of carbohydrates. If you want your brain to function properly, you need adequate carbohydrates. Rich sources of carbohydrates are helpful for a healthy body and positive emotions, and are also more conducive to stabilizing blood sugar after meals.

Don't just eat refined rice and white flour as staple food, but a combination of coarse and fine grains. Most Chinese people like to drink porridge for breakfast. You can use whole grains to replace 1/3 of white rice to make porridge, such as corn, millet, quinoa, oatmeal, highland barley, black rice, brown rice, coix seed, chickpea, red bean, mung bean and other foods. In addition, you must pay attention to the cooking time of porridge. Don't cook it too soft, which is more conducive to controlling blood sugar. Don't add alkali to avoid destroying B vitamins.

▶ Must have protein

Compared with carbohydrates, protein is digested and absorbed more slowly, which has the effect of suppressing appetite and promoting satiety, and can also help stabilize blood sugar after meals. Adequate protein intake throughout the day is beneficial to the repair of body tissues, improving immunity, and improving skin.

Protein foods suitable for breakfast include eggs, milk, unsweetened soy milk, fried chicken breast, braised beef, and low-salt dried tofu.

▶ Fruits and vegetables

Many people tend to ignore the intake of fruits and vegetables for breakfast. Fresh fruits and vegetables not only provide vitamins and minerals, but also provide dietary fiber and phytochemicals, which can enhance satiety and resist oxidation. In addition, the taste and color of fruits and vegetables can also add icing on the cake to a monotonous breakfast and promote appetite.

Vegetables suitable for breakfast include cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet peppers, cucumbers, cold spinach, cold purple cabbage, and stir-fried bok choy. The first five can be eaten raw, and the last three only require simple cooking, which is very suitable for office workers who are short on time.

Summary: Eating breakfast regularly and eating a good breakfast can not only meet the body's nutritional needs, but also better control weight and prevent chronic diseases. There is no strict definition of the time for breakfast. In order not to affect lunch intake, it is generally recommended to eat before 8:30.

References:

[1] Bai Ruixue, Zhao Yong. Research progress on the effect of breakfast on overweight and obesity in adults[J]. Health Care Medicine Research and Practice, 2017, 14(02): 8-12.

[2]Ma

[3] Deng Rendan, Wan Yang, Gesang Pingcuo, Mao Ju, Xiong Hai. Research progress on the effects of skipping breakfast on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases[J]. Chinese Journal of Circulation, 2022, 37(11): 1170-1172.

[4] Lan Lan. Exploratory study on behavioral intervention for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease[D]. Third Military Medical University, 2010.

[5] Tang Zhenchuang. Study on the effect of breakfast quality on short-term cognitive ability of young mental workers[D]. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016.

[6] Wang Jing, Gong Yu, Zhang Qian, Feng Li, Li Yafen. Correlation between healthy dietary behavior and gallstone risk in young and middle-aged people[J]. Journal of Nursing, 2022, 37(10): 6-10.

Author | Xue Qingxin, registered dietitian

Review | Zhang Na, Associate Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Peking University School of Public Health

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