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I actually just finished eating a big (for me) breakfast down the street, and while I was walking home I thought about how health science is full of contradicto

I actually just finished eating a big (for me) breakfast down the street, and while I was walking home I thought about how health science is full of contradictory claims. Wasn't there an article on the front page a couple weeks ago about how skipping your breakfast is the healthiest thing to do, or could be? With no two articles giving the same advice, it seems like there's no point in reading them. During my walk I concluded that the only way to really figure out what works best is to just experiment. Come up with a list of metrics you care about (#1 on my list: alertness) and record them, along with what food you eat and other data that might impact your metrics (exercise, social time, whether what you've done that day is tedious or exciting). Considering that everyone's body and lifestyle is different, this approach makes the most sense to me. I'm sure other folks have done something like this before. Does anyone know of a tool that will help? Have any of you tried something like this, and how'd it work out?

swombat 18y ago
Totally agree. I actually did do what the article suggests, since I had been thinking it might work for a number of years before. I had always put off "front-loading my day", as I put it, because I had a stressful job and couldn't afford to be having diet-induced hunger pangs in that job. But, since I work from home now, I was able to try it properly, and it worked really well. I had as big a breakfast as I could stomach (which isn't that big in the morning), and severely cut back on lunch and dinner. I tracked my weight and body fat % throughout this. Result? I lost about 10kg in 3 months, and 4.5% of body fat %. And the best part: I felt very clear and energetic throughout the day - no diet-induced slow-downs at all, just the opposite of what I'd expected. Now, I can't guarantee this was entirely due to a big breakfast, but it makes sense.
- gaius 18y ago
  Yes this makes logical sense... First thing in the morning you've probably not eaten for 12 hours, that is literally why it is called "break fast". A high-quality, nutrient-dense breakfast is vital. Coffee and a pastry doesn't cut it for me any more. A big bowl of porridge with a handful of berries and a little maple syrup is just about perfect for me, a few simple carbs to kickstart my metabolism and complex carbs to power me 'til lunchtime. When I have the opportunity I like to make it the old-fashioned way, soak the oats in warm water and a drop of vinegar overnight, then heat it up slowly in the morning, add a pinch of salt and a little butter (NOT margarine or "spread" or any of that modern rubbish). Yum.
pmjordan 18y ago
I seem to have a ridiculously fast metabolism, so weight loss is luckily not something I have to worry about. (for now?) However, I have experimented with my diet a little, and for me, breakfast is basically essential. I can't function properly for the rest of the day if I don't have a proper breakfast, I end up being lethargic and unable to concentrate for the rest of the day. If I skip breakfast completely, I just end up snacking to avoid getting "the shakes" though, so that might be an extreme case.
gaius 18y ago
Well, no, how to eat healthily is pretty much known these days. Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day, every 3 hours or so, avoid refined/simple carbs, aim to get your calories from 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat, all from a variety of sources, aim for 25g fibre a day. This is right because it's what humans evolved doing. The difficult part is doing it in the modern world. Like if you're in a hurry in the morning, you might skip breakfast, or grab a pastry (white flour, white sugar) at Starbucks. Or if you're tired or stressed in the evening, you might order a pizza. But the more processed food is, the more profitable it is too, so it's hard to live as you were meant, but it is possible.
- nonrecursive 18y ago
  Doesn't "5-6 small meals throughout the day" contradict the suggestions in this article, which other folks here have concurred worked for them? Would the people who got good results from eating a large breakfast and then eating smaller lunches and dinners have done better using your suggestions? Is "conducive to weight loss among the obese" too narrow a criterion for a healthy diet? Are your suggestions appropriate for different lifestyles? Is a diet that worked in circumstances that I'm not in actually best for me? I'm not actually asking you all these questions, they're just meant to illustrate my continued warines and weariness over varied and contradictory health advice. (But if you knew the answers that would be awesome)
  - gaius 18y ago
    Well, "big" is relative... Let's say I am targetting 2400 calories a day (YMMV), that is 6 meals of 400 calories. If I had 600 calories at breakfast and 200 mid-morning (this corresponds to say, a pot of yoghurt and an apple) I'm still operating within "normal" bounds. The aim here is to keep your energy supply as level as possible. If you have a spike in energy, your body will react by storing it as fat. If you have a dip, unfortunately your body won't immediately turn to fat, it will react by slowing your overall metabolism and you'll feel tired and lethargic. Remember that for your body fat is a precious resource to be be hoarded as much as possible. Eating a small dinner is a relative thing because traditionally (in the West at least) the evening meal is large, 400-500 calories of good food is plenty. In the evenings, because you are not going to eat all night, slow-digesting foods are best. Diets fail because they are unnatural, similarly people get fat in the first place because they way they are eating is unnatural. Basically I am advocating using high-quality modern ingredients to replicate the nutrition preferred by our ancestors, not "as a diet" but as a lifestyle. If someone does this, in the right quantities for their metabolism (this can be determined as you say, experimentally), they can't help but be basically healthy. We're all the same species, after all.

swombat 18y ago

Totally agree. I actually did do what the article suggests, since I had been thinking it might work for a number of years before. I had always put off "front-loading my day", as I put it, because I had a stressful job and couldn't afford to be having diet-induced hunger pangs in that job. But, since I work from home now, I was able to try it properly, and it worked really well. I had as big a breakfast as I could stomach (which isn't that big in the morning), and severely cut back on lunch and dinner. I tracked my weight and body fat % throughout this. Result? I lost about 10kg in 3 months, and 4.5% of body fat %. And the best part: I felt very clear and energetic throughout the day - no diet-induced slow-downs at all, just the opposite of what I'd expected. Now, I can't guarantee this was entirely due to a big breakfast, but it makes sense.

gaius 18y ago
Yes this makes logical sense... First thing in the morning you've probably not eaten for 12 hours, that is literally why it is called "break fast". A high-quality, nutrient-dense breakfast is vital. Coffee and a pastry doesn't cut it for me any more. A big bowl of porridge with a handful of berries and a little maple syrup is just about perfect for me, a few simple carbs to kickstart my metabolism and complex carbs to power me 'til lunchtime. When I have the opportunity I like to make it the old-fashioned way, soak the oats in warm water and a drop of vinegar overnight, then heat it up slowly in the morning, add a pinch of salt and a little butter (NOT margarine or "spread" or any of that modern rubbish). Yum.

pmjordan 18y ago

I seem to have a ridiculously fast metabolism, so weight loss is luckily not something I have to worry about. (for now?) However, I have experimented with my diet a little, and for me, breakfast is basically essential. I can't function properly for the rest of the day if I don't have a proper breakfast, I end up being lethargic and unable to concentrate for the rest of the day. If I skip breakfast completely, I just end up snacking to avoid getting "the shakes" though, so that might be an extreme case.

gaius 18y ago

Well, no, how to eat healthily is pretty much known these days. Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day, every 3 hours or so, avoid refined/simple carbs, aim to get your calories from 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat, all from a variety of sources, aim for 25g fibre a day. This is right because it's what humans evolved doing. The difficult part is doing it in the modern world. Like if you're in a hurry in the morning, you might skip breakfast, or grab a pastry (white flour, white sugar) at Starbucks. Or if you're tired or stressed in the evening, you might order a pizza. But the more processed food is, the more profitable it is too, so it's hard to live as you were meant, but it is possible.

nonrecursive 18y ago
Doesn't "5-6 small meals throughout the day" contradict the suggestions in this article, which other folks here have concurred worked for them? Would the people who got good results from eating a large breakfast and then eating smaller lunches and dinners have done better using your suggestions? Is "conducive to weight loss among the obese" too narrow a criterion for a healthy diet? Are your suggestions appropriate for different lifestyles? Is a diet that worked in circumstances that I'm not in actually best for me? I'm not actually asking you all these questions, they're just meant to illustrate my continued warines and weariness over varied and contradictory health advice. (But if you knew the answers that would be awesome)
- gaius 18y ago
  Well, "big" is relative... Let's say I am targetting 2400 calories a day (YMMV), that is 6 meals of 400 calories. If I had 600 calories at breakfast and 200 mid-morning (this corresponds to say, a pot of yoghurt and an apple) I'm still operating within "normal" bounds. The aim here is to keep your energy supply as level as possible. If you have a spike in energy, your body will react by storing it as fat. If you have a dip, unfortunately your body won't immediately turn to fat, it will react by slowing your overall metabolism and you'll feel tired and lethargic. Remember that for your body fat is a precious resource to be be hoarded as much as possible. Eating a small dinner is a relative thing because traditionally (in the West at least) the evening meal is large, 400-500 calories of good food is plenty. In the evenings, because you are not going to eat all night, slow-digesting foods are best. Diets fail because they are unnatural, similarly people get fat in the first place because they way they are eating is unnatural. Basically I am advocating using high-quality modern ingredients to replicate the nutrition preferred by our ancestors, not "as a diet" but as a lifestyle. If someone does this, in the right quantities for their metabolism (this can be determined as you say, experimentally), they can't help but be basically healthy. We're all the same species, after all.