If there is one food that has polarized nutritionists, doctors and diet enthusiasts, it is undoubtedly breakfast. For years we have been told the mantra that it is “the most important meal of the day”, conceived above all by companies that sell cereals. But then this went to the opposite side, driven by the popularity of intermittent fasting which pointed out that skipping it was not only bad, but could be beneficial. Then the trouble is over.
Many doubts. The logical thing to do here is to ask yourself many questions: Is it good or bad? What happens to our body if we eat breakfast at 7:00 versus having it at 11:00? The answer to this great debate is not only in that we eat, but in when We do it, and it is where one of the most fascinating areas of research in recent years comes into play, which is chrononutrition.
An internal clock. Our body does not process food in the same way at 8 in the morning as it does at 3 in the afternoon, nor does it do so at night, where digestion slows down. Everything is mediated in detail by our circadian clock, controlled in part by the famous melatonin, and also by hormones such as cortisol, which is popularly known as the stress hormone.
Here we have seen how the human body experiences a natural peak of cortisol between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning to help us wake up and activate. The problem arises when we delay breakfast beyond 9:00, since by not receiving food, the body interprets this lack of energy with food intake as a stress situation and artificially prolongs the cortisol peak.
The consequences. Here a process called gluconeogenesis is activated, where the body begins to manufacture its own glucose and worsens insulin sensitivity. On the contrary, a classic trial showed that eating breakfast reduces cortisol levels after an episode of stress compared to fasting, improving the endocrine response.
Breakfast time. Beyond the hormonal theory, large population studies are providing compelling figures. If morning intermittent fasting had its defenders, large-scale epidemiology is beginning to tip the balance towards early risers.
This is what a large study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health pointed out, which analyzed the data of more than 103,000 people. In these cases they concluded that eating breakfast after 9 in the morning increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 59% compared to those who eat breakfast before 8:00. And all due to the action of insulin.
And it agrees. With previous meta-analyses that integrate the routines of thousands of patients, such as the one published in the British Journal of Nutrition which confirm that systematically skipping breakfast increases the risk of suffering from diabetes between 21% and 48%. That is why desynchronizing our meals profoundly alters the hormones and normal lipids in our body and that is why eating breakfast irregularly or even not eating it favors the storage of abdominal fat.
Not anything is worth it. Knowing that we should have breakfast early is only half of this equation, since sending that metabolic “safety” signal to the body requires quality fuel. In this way, an optimal breakfast should represent between 20 and 30% of our daily caloric intake, and science has an idea of what feels best.
What they suggest should be prioritized are high-quality proteins, eggs, Greek yogurt, cheese, fish or legumes. And it is very important, since morning protein stabilizes blood glucose, reduces cravings during the rest of the day and modulates cortisol. Although it should not be taken in isolation, it should be combined with healthy fats and fiber.
To avoid. On the other side of the scale we can find simple and ultra-processed sugars that make up the classic industrial pastries, cookies or sugary cereals. These foods cause an immediate glucose spike followed by a sudden drop, which triggers cortisol again and leaves us without energy and hungry in the middle of the morning, which leads to eating more food and giving in to cravings.
Fasting is not bad. The great debate that is on the table right now is the one that seeks to maintain a balance between the currents of fasting and those of five meals a day. That is why chrononutrition does not rule out the benefits of stopping the digestive system from resting, but it proposes displacing that fast. In this way, what is proposed here is that it is advisable to maintain a 12-hour overnight fast, having dinner early and also having breakfast first thing in the morning.
Images | Rachel Park
In WorldOfSoftware | We’ve gone from “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” to “I grab something quick and stick with it.” And that has problems
