Breakfast or Intermittent Fasting?

Breakfast or Intermittent Fasting?

You’ve heard the benefits of breakfast proclaimed, often called the most important meal of the day, but you’ve also heard positives with respect to intermittent fasting. These two seem to oppose each other so what gives? If you’re wondering how we square the research showing health benefits to eating breakfast with intermittent fasting research, you’re not alone. Both have benefits – let’s take a closer look.

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that helps some people reduce their calorie intake and burn fat, but the metabolic health benefits of intermittent fasting are attributable to weight loss, and not to how that weight was lost. Studies show that overall, intermittent fasting results in weight loss due to creating a caloric deficit, and that when you match intermittent fasting to calorie restriction, they work equally well. A 2019 review concluded that intermittent fasting produces equivalent weight loss and fat loss compared to calorie restriction and a similar analysis was conducted in a 2020 systematic review. If intermittent fasting is the only thing you’ve ever tried that has helped you reduce your calorie intake or maintain your weight, then it’s a great strategy that works for you. If, however, you’re viewing your health goals in a more sophisticated way than just weight management, (which I recommend), and/or anything else works for you to achieve your weight loss goals than eating breakfast within 2 hours of waking up has numerous health benefits no matter what you eat.

In short, eating breakfast helps to entrench our circadian rhythms and regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (the fight or flight axis) and through the regulation of cortisol eating breakfast better regulates blood sugar and insulin levels later in the day and is strongly associated with an overall healthier diet through regulation of appetite and cravings, reducing overeating. Studies routinely show that eating breakfast is super beneficial for our health! Eating breakfast regularly reduces the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease absent weight loss. Intermittent fasting only does this if you’re using it to lose weight. That’s the key difference.

A 2019 meta-analysis showed that people who ever skip breakfast have a 22% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who eat breakfast every day, even after accounting for body mass index (BMI). And, the more days of the week you skip breakfast, the higher your risk. Skipping breakfast 4 or 5 times per week increases your risk of type 2 diabetes by a whopping 55%! Another 2019 meta-analysis showed that people who regularly skip breakfast are 21% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, or die from it, than people who eat breakfast every day. The authors also calculated that people who regularly skip breakfast have a 32% higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to people who eat breakfast every day. That’s a huge effect!

Overall, both intermittent fasting and eating breakfast have their benefits. The bottom line is that you should choose the strategy that works best for your overall health and well-being.

If you’re interested on my thoughts regarding intermittent fasting, check out my video. And, if you’d like to know more on my thoughts on all things related to the first meal of the day check out my Science Stroll – “Is Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day?“

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