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Is skipping breakfast beneficial?

I see a lot of posts across different social media platforms promoting the idea of skipping breakfast entirely(outside your daily coffee of course😋). Basically the idea is intermittent fasting but I’m just curious if there are actual benefits to this both short and long term.

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Answer

I am a certified Nutrition Coach and even I hesitate to say much on this because what works for one person isn’t gonna work for everyone.

There are so many factors to consider about these things that it’s hard to give a firm yes or no about skipping breakfast. Me, I like to eat about an hour after waking up but that’s what works for me and my digestion and what I need to fuel my body for my activity level. That’s simply not gonna be the case for everyone.

Answer

I have to eat a light breakfast because it also serves as my pre workout snack. Every morning I have a large, homemade matcha soy latte with marine collagen powder, a large apple or steamed Japanese sweet potato, and a serving of raw walnuts.

Answer

I think that’s the best time to fast if you’re wanting to do that. From my experience it has the least impact on your quality of life by fasting in the morning for these reasons:

  1. Morning is when people are naturally more alert, meaning that they have more willpower. This helps a person maintain their regular pace of work despite fasting. It also makes fasting easier.
  2. Morning is typically when people have caffeine. Caffeine suppresses appetite, which makes fasting easier. It also raises alertness, which helps a person maintain their regular pace of work despite fasting and makes fasting easier.
  3. Night is generally a difficult time to end a fast because fasting can lead to hunger pangs and disrupt your sleep. Shifting the fast more towards the afternoon means you have less of a deficit while sleeping. Getting good sleep helps with your fast and life.

Answer

There are benefits to IF but there seem to be many factors (age, family history, metabolic profile, contraindications, activity level etc).

Jason Fung (MD) is a huge proponent video here.

I accidentally wound up doing IF. Food was making me tired so I stopped eating lunch. Then I stopped eating breakfast and had a small meal (break fast) around 4pm with a second meal around 7pm. I found my energy levels were more balanced.

When I researched it afterwards there were quite a few claims around insulin production, ghrelin, autophagy etc.

I still “fast’ for 16+ hours regularly and when combined with the proper macros (for me) my energy levels remain very high and my mind is sharp.

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Peter Attia talks about IF as well and he does take the position that many of the claims you hear are overstated.

Lastly, my cardiologist thinks its a healthy eating pattern for me given my family history of type 2 diabetes.

Answer

I think people differ. For me, it is normal; I never want breakfast. Black coffee, no sweeteners. I think IF and water fasting is an easier approach to calorie restriction. They promote stable blood sugar, and energy levels. But my opinions seem to be rare amongst those I know.

Answer

You would really get a better response from google. Everyone has different body types. There’s different styles of fasting. Some people fast all day and eat at night. Some people don’t eat anything for days. There’s different rubrics and no one size fits all.

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