Breakfast

Formation

I have heard that skipping breakfast for a prolonged period of time can cause really bad dark circles over time and make it more difficult to concentrate and retain information.

Regarding the dark circles is this true?

Why will skipping breakfast have this effect?

EileenG

Not true and no evidence to suggest it is.

Why would skipping breakfast cause dark circles but skipping supper is fine?

Formation

I have seen it mentioned a couple of times but can't find a proper article. Something along the lines of not replenishing glucogen stores and putting the body under extra pressure if you don't eat in the first few hours and a teacher said she can tell the students who don't eat breakfast by the dark circles.

EileenG

Crap.

Yes, your glycogen stores are low in the morning, but your body has a great back-up system and will burn fat instead of glycogen. And besides, why should low glycogen cause dark circles? There is no connection.

Far more likely that the average person who doesn't eat breakfast skips it because they went to bed late, snoozed through the time it would take to make and eat breakfast, and are still knackered.

Torakx

EileenG wrote: »

Crap.

Yes, your glycogen stores are low in the morning, but your body has a great back-up system and will burn fat instead of glycogen. And besides, why should low glycogen cause dark circles? There is no connection.

Far more likely that the average person who doesn't eat breakfast skips it because they went to bed late, snoozed through the time it would take to make and eat breakfast, and are still knackered.

Is that ketosis your refering to there?
I had always thought it would take min 2-3 days of zero to little carbs to reach this stage.

EileenG

Solid full time ketosis, yes. But humans are designed to slide from burning glycogen to ketones and back. It's just that modern food is so heavily carb based you don't spend much time in ketosis now. Early morning is usually the only time and even that depends on how much you exercise and what you ate the previous evening.

But ketosis doesn't cause dark circles.

cavan4liam

Skipping breakfast is one of the healthiest things you can do. Contrary to popular belief, staying in a fastest state (happens, usually, after 12 hours) releases beneficial hormones that increase alertness, suppress appetite (adrenaline), speed up fat loss and slow aging (human growth hormone). Periods of fasting have been shown to increase the lifespan of rats the same as severe calorie restriction has. The fabled 'starvation mode' that slows down metabolism dramatically only happens after 3 days of fasting.

Formation

Its a commonly accepted 'stat' that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese so I will have to disagree that skipping breakfast suppresses appetite, you end up eating more later when you realise how hungry you are after taking the first couple of bites. The cons definately outweigh the pros of skipping breakfast.

ConorSTF

Formation wrote: »

Its a commonly accepted 'stat' that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese so I will have to disagree that skipping breakfast suppresses appetite, you end up eating more later when you realise how hungry you are after taking the first couple of bites. The cons definately outweigh the pros of skipping breakfast.

I don't know. I have been spending a lot of time looking into intermittent fasting recently and it is something I will be starting soon. The plan is 18 hours fasting, 6 hours eating. It is much easier to stay within your calorie requirements if you are only eating for 6 hours, even with the extra hunger.

It may take awhile for your body and mind to get used to the fasting period, but it's not too hard being honest. I've fasted from 10PM-4PM and it's much easier than I would have thought.

Formation

That must have a fairly negative effect on the energy levels. You wouldn't want to have a strenous lifestyle. Exercise more instead.

cavan4liam

Formation wrote: »

Its a commonly accepted 'stat' that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese so I will have to disagree that skipping breakfast suppresses appetite, you end up eating more later when you realise how hungry you are after taking the first couple of bites. The cons definately outweigh the pros of skipping breakfast.

Wrong. Correlation is not causation. 'People who eat whole wheat have a healthier heart' doesn't mean whole wheat makes your heart healthy,'People who eat Special K tend to be slimmer' doesnt mean it makes you slim, it beens slim people buy it more. Just because something is commonly accepted doesn't mean it's correct.

cavan4liam

ConorSTF wrote: »

Formation wrote: »

Its a commonly accepted 'stat' that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese so I will have to disagree that skipping breakfast suppresses appetite, you end up eating more later when you realise how hungry you are after taking the first couple of bites. The cons definately outweigh the pros of skipping breakfast.

I don't know. I have been spending a lot of time looking into intermittent fasting recently and it is something I will be starting soon. The plan is 18 hours fasting, 6 hours eating. It is much easier to stay within your calorie requirements if you are only eating for 6 hours, even with the extra hunger.

It may take awhile for your body and mind to get used to the fasting period, but it's not too hard being honest. I've fasted from 10PM-4PM and it's much easier than I would have thought.

Fair play to ya, I started it a few weeks ago, im in college and the gym Ive used has closed down so am doing no excercise but losing weight eating 800g of mince most days. I use a 19/5 split or one meal a day. Its usually less than 5 hour eating window and I've never tried two one meal days in a row. I just do whatever I feel like on the day. I haven't told anyone else because of the type of ignorance that most people have towards diet.

cavan4liam

Formation wrote: »

That must have a fairly negative effect on the energy levels. You wouldn't want to have a strenous lifestyle. Exercise more instead.

You obviously don't know what adrenalin and testosterone do, I'd look up that sort thing before giving out bad advice.

Mellor

Formation wrote: »

Something along the lines of not replenishing glucogen stores

Glycogen will be down slightly in the morning but its not anywhere near depleted.
You would probably need to go a whole day of normal activity without eating to deplete gylcogen. Roughly, marathon runners don't deplete thier stores until about the 20 mile mark.

Torakx wrote: »

Is that ketosis your refering to there?
I had always thought it would take min 2-3 days of zero to little carbs to reach this stage.

Your body can burn fat without being in full blown ketosis. Look at anybody losign weight. The basic idea is that the consume less energy than they burn and make up the rest by burnign fat. Thereforem, there they are depleting glycogen on an almost daily basis.

EileenG

Formation wrote: »

Its a commonly accepted 'stat' that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese

But one doesn't cause the other. It's much more likely that fat people try to slim by skipping breakfast.

Studies that looked at what people actually eat have found that eating breakfast does not reduce the calories for the day, and the typical high carb breakfast (juice, cereal, toast etc) is likely to cause an insulin spike which increases appetite.

Torakx

I would have thought a good steak with salad would be the perfect breakfast for a previously dormant stomach

That would take ages to burn down.

To me it seems just intuitively if you keep skipping breakfast,your body might try its best to salavage any fat it can when it gets a chance.
Or maybe your metabolism will slow down not being used to processing food in the mornings.
But thats just my intuitition lol

Im sure you could starve yourself needlessly in the morning and then eat a balanced diet later.
You just wont catch me doing it.

EileenG

The modern thing of getting and eating immediately is comparitively new. Up until a generation or so ago, people used to get up and do a couple of hours work, feeding animals and stuff before they ate breakfast.

But as for the slowing metabolism, why would it? Lots of people try to lose weight by skipping supper. Why does this not slow your metabolism?

Torakx

I guess intuitively i was thinking your body would get used to being inactive at certain times.That it mgth slow metabolism to suit.
I have a friend who eat only once a day.And i again intuitively thought he would end up with a slow metabolism,because i figured the body will adjust to a routine.Hmm in saying that he metabolises drugs,alcohol and everything else WAY slower than anyone else i know.Maybe not related though.
And in his case might have needed to slow down his metabolim so the one meal he eats is used effectively.

But like i said purely intuition and not any fact or research.
I believe more in what ive learned about carbs/sugar and insulin versus fat gain.

robertjack780

Yes it will definitely affect our body and can become the reason of dark circle.Breakfast is very important.

Formation

robertjack780 wrote: »

Yes it will definitely affect our body and can become the reason of dark circle.Breakfast is very important.

can you give any of the science behind the theory?

hilton

Yes , the body being desperate for metabolic resources will indeed start to break down muscle tissue for nutrients.
however, it will normally resort first to fat cells .

Mellor

It will actually turn to the much easier used glycogen first. It will eventually turn catabolic and consume muscle, but not over a period of a few hours.

hilton

hilton wrote: »

Yes , the body being desperate for metabolic resources will indeed start to break down muscle tissue for nutrients.
however, it will normally resort first to fat cells .

any comment?
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