Every Friday, find on Le Point.fr, the nutrition chronicle of Professor Boris Hansel, endocrinologist and nutritionist at Bichat Hospital in Paris.
Por a good balanced diet, we often hear that you have to have a good, complete and balanced breakfast. And we are told that skipping breakfast can cause low blood sugar and weight gain. But should we necessarily have a good breakfast, especially when we are not hungry? The answer is no !
If we know a little about how the body works, one thing is certain: there is no obligation to ingest calories in the morning to be healthy. Of course, we need energy. But the body knows how to manufacture it perfectly from its reserves: we have glucose stocks and our liver also manufactures it even after several days of fasting! So there is no risk of hypoglycaemia if you don’t eat in the morning.
Skipping breakfast is also rumored to promote snacking and weight gain. But this is not demonstrated. According to a large study, weight increases slightly more in people who frequently skip breakfast, with an 11% increased risk of being overweight or obese. But even the researchers acknowledge that there are significant biases in these results. And studies where volunteers are asked to change their habits and skip breakfast show the opposite result: a reduction in calorie intake and therefore a small loss of weight.
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So what to do with all this information in practice? Several tracks:
If you are hungry in the morning, have breakfast. Base yourself on how you feel: a dairy product or fruit may be enough for some, while others need toast or even a salty meal!
If you are not hungry at all and breakfast is more of a constraint than a need: above all, do not force yourself – unless otherwise advised by your doctor in specific cases. And if around 11 a.m. you feel the need to eat, organize yourself to do so.
The only risk of skipping breakfast is to start the day and your occupations without listening to your food sensations and to eat compulsively later when the professional pressure subsides.
A word of advice for parents: avoid letting children go to school on an empty stomach. But if they don’t have a real breakfast, it’s not a tragedy. Food education is something much more global.
Last tip: whether or not you eat breakfast, hydrate yourself well in the morning soon after waking up! A large glass of water can solve a lot of small symptoms, such as fatigue or headaches in the morning!
Clearly in the morning: drink water and eat, if you feel the need!
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