Science Q - Dr. Lusting says eat breakfast

[updadubs]

Hi everyone,
First want to say am a lurker but really admire all the support and info (and scientific knowledge) you guys provide. Have been roughly following 5:2 principles for 2 mths, this has been possible as have also given up sugar. In my reading up on this have read 'Fat Chance' by Dr Robert Lusting. I really agree with a lot of what he says, particularly how addictive it is (many many 1000's of calorie binges of experience).

So the question - he strongly recommends eating breakfast to reduce ghrelin levels which otherwise keep rising through the day. Is this just because it will take more will-power to resist overeating over the course of the day? I find it easiest (like a lot of people on here) to not eat for as long as possible on a fast day, is their any evidence to dispute this?

(Note have so far only read quitting sugar books but Mosley's book is next on my list so sorry if he answers this on the 1st page!)

Thanks in advance

[BigChocFrenzy]

Hi, upadubs

Breakfast is widely hyped, but I haven't seen reliable evidence, i.e. properly measured lab studies, rather than much less exact epidemiology studies, about eating breakfast.

Many scientists like Lustig think it important; some other research suggests breakfast makes you hungrier. Martin Berkhan at LeanGains has had huge success training people on 16:8, without breakfast and explains auite well BreakfastMyth

Large epidemiological studies do show an association with breakfast skipping and higher body weights in the population. Cereal manufacturers like Kellogs love to (mis)quote such studies to increase their sales.
However, most people skipping breakfast are disorganised eaters, who then eat high-calorie junk later, e.g. crisp, muffins, latte at 11am

People skipping breakfast as part of an eating plan, mindful of overall calories are completely different to junk bingers.

[BigChocFrenzy]

People vary in what they find best. If you prefer to eat breakfast, you can do 16:8 by skipping supper.

Most folk on 5:2 find FDs easiest with a large supper containing most or all of their cals, but do whatever works for you.

Personally, on 5:2, I skip breakfast but then split my cals into 3 protein shakes, like in the Michelle Harvie study. This is because I am an intense exerciser and I found my prformance suffers slightly on a completely empty tum.

The most important aspect wrt weight loss on 5:2 FDs is to keep to the 500/600 cals, whatever their exact distribution.

[updadubs]

Thanks BigChoc, to be fair to Lusting he stresses protein based breakfast and its importance in curbing late night binging in particular - and he defo not a fan of kellogs etc....

I'll keep going best I can then and skipping breakfast on a fast day defo works best for me
Thanks again

[TalkinPeace]

Most of the people at my gym do not eat breakfast.
Being fit and healthy they do not tend to discuss their eating habits with doctors, so are not included in studies ....

[updadubs]

Thats good to know Talkingpeace, I don't have too much gym experience but before I heard about 5:2 I thought it was 'THE LAW' to have breakfast (if you wanted to be healthy). I really need to skip it to get through a fast day and might try it most days to keep calories down on non fast days too

[TalkinPeace]

THE trouble with a LOT of medical studies about diet is that they
(a) rely on historic self reporting - which is known to be shockingly inaccurate
(b) collect their participants from people already in touch with nutritionists - therefore exclude those without problems with their eating / weight

I was in a back pain study - I was part of the H0 cohort (ie those without back pain ever) and the people running the study were really shocked at how their hypothesis about activity did not stand up.