Should I eat breakfast? Intermittent fasting versus metabolism kick start…

I was asked this week ‘Should I eat breakfast?’

For a long while, the received wisdom has been: Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper. Or as the Russian saying goes: Eat your breakfast alone, lunch with a friend but give your dinner to your enemy…

Breakfast was promised to get your metabolism going and keep you focused for the morning.

Then along came intermittent fasting, and we’re being advised to wait as long as possible before eating, ideally 16 hours after our meal the night before. By doing this, we benefit from some of the processes that kick in once our bodies haven’t eaten for a while: these processes clean out suspect cells which keeps cancer, Alzheimers and other diseases at bay.

So which is true? Are either of them?

Firstly, your metabolism will get going whether you have breakfast or not – your body needs to function, and function it will. If you’re used to having breakfast, you might need to get used to eat later, but it’ll be hunger pangs that strike you, not a metabolic catastrophe.

As to whether breakfast is a good idea or not, it seems that nothing is true for everyone. Even the most compelling studies show a distribution of results. Some things work for some people, and not for others. Our genetics, our microbiome and our environments are all so different that how these things affect us is entirely individual.

If you are ravenous when you wake up, then it would be advisable to have breakfast. Otherwise, you’ll end up in the cookie jar before the day has even started. If, on the other hand, you’re not hungry, then why would you eat? Why not wait until hunger pangs start, and if that’s not until late in the morning, and you can wait until lunch, perhaps you’re one of the people for whom intermittent fasting will work.

If you’ve had a large breakfast, you might be the type of person who isn’t so bothered about dinner, and if you will want to try fasting for 16 hours, then it might suit you better to do it at the end of the day.

There are no rules – have a try and see what suits you.