Is Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day?

I'm a great advocate of intermittent fasting protocols as an effective means of controlling body fat through calorie restriction. It's also useful for increasing energy levels and stimulating the enhanced expression of 'thrifty genes' which prolong lifespan in animals (and probably in people as well). There are many ways of implementing intermittent fasting protocols, including my personal favourite of fasting almost every day (and eating all meals within a compressed - or condensed - time 'window' period of between 3 and 5 hours each day.

So I expect most people will be surprised when I agree with the age-old statement - "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I'll ellaborate a little on this phrase. It's a little too absolute, in my opinion. I'd say there is no such thing as 'the most important meal of the day.' Rather, I'd say certain meals can be crucial - and can take priority in your day - breakfast being one of these meals.

For people who exercise, the most important meal of the day is actually the one within one hour of when you exercise. That particular meal should be the most nutritionally balanced because that is the time when your body's effectiveness for processing nutrients peaks and this 'peri-exercise' nutritional processing plays a crucial part in recovery and adaptation.

But, for the average person, I believe breakfast is a very important meal. This rule holds true even for people following an intermittent fasting lifestyle. If you eat many meals each day - which most people who have any choice in the matter will do - then the first meal of all those meals is extremely important and will set the scene for the rest of the meals you eat that day. This rule is even 'truer' if you follow intermittent fasting.

I'll explain. The first meal after a 'fast' (or lengthy period of little or no eating) is very improtant because it will moderate your appetite for the rest of the day. Everybody 'fasts' every day - because everybody needs to sleep for a number of hours every single day (hence the word "Break-Fast"). During sleep, you are fasting. All intermittent fasting does is manipulate this fast to make it longer and to end it at varying times. But the rule still applies - the first meal after fasting is crucial.

There are two ways of tackling this first meal after a fast - depending on what type of fast it is. If you fast only during the period of sleep, but then eat frequently from the time you get up until the time you next go to bed, then the first meal must still be oserved carefully and must still be moderated. Skipping breakfast (when you eat regular meals throughout the day) will often lead to a lack of appetite control later in the day. If you start eating from around lunchtime - until bedtime - you are likely to eat bigger meals than if you ate earlier in the day. A meal high in slow-release, low glycemic index, carbohydrate foods will moderate your appetite quite well for the rest of your meals that day. So will a meal with fibre, meat and protein in it (these foods suppress appetite). Meals rich in fruits - such as apples - will also play a role in appetite-suppression when consumed first in the day (this last point applies irrespective of whether or not you follow intermittent fasting).

If you follow intermittent fasting, but don't fast every day (rather you use alternate day fasting protocols) then it is crucial that your 'break-fast' meal is controlled. Do not try to make up for a longer period without food by eating a needlessly large first meal. Instead, eat as if your last meal had been a few hours before. With alternate day fasting this is not difficult to do because if you fast for a 24 hour period on alternate days (breaking the fast in the morning of a new day) you will find that you feel no hungrier than if you had eaten the previous day.

If you follow regular condensed-eating-window intermittent fasting you will need to observe more discipline at 'break-fast' time because there is often more of a tendency to want to eat more when you first break the fast using this particular protocol. The way around this is to ensure you break the fast with an eating plan already in place. Also ensure that you use low calorie, non-starchy, fresh fruits to break your fast (it is very difficult to binge on raw fresh fruits). Eat just these fruits - until your initial appetite urges are 'numbed' and precede the fruits with a large amount of water.

The last eating 'tip' to be aware of, regardless of your eating pattern, is to always precede breakfast with a 'water binge' - drink as much water as you can in the 20 minutes before your first meal of the day. Try to wait another 15 minutes, or so, and then drink a little more water - and then start eating. Always plan your meals throughout the day to reduce the likelihood of 'opportunistic eating' - which seldom leads to the consumption of the healthiest foods.

I hope this information helps!

Idai Makaya
www.idaimakaya.com