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Fried Breakfast is Best
"A high-fat breakfast of bacon and eggs may be the healthiest start to the day, report shows" was the Daily Telegraph headline on 31 March 2010.
The paper was reporting a study on mice conducted by scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Baylor College of Medicine, Texas. While I don't place a lot of store in extrapolating dietary studies conducted on anorther species to what happens in humans, this study did add weight to several other studies on humans which have come to the same conclusions.
They are, that eating a high-fat, high-protein meal at the beginning of the day reduces a whole host of conditions that affect us today: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, gallstones, the ability to work and think, and many others.
But, naturally, the breakfast cereal manufacturers didn't like it. A press release was rapidly emailed to the news media as follows:
A story appeared in the media today, based on a research paper published in the United States. It was reported as saying that eating a fatty fried breakfast every day was the best start to the day. There are a number of reasons why this story about the health benefits of a regular fry-up should be carefully interpreted: |
COMMENT: Let's look at those seven statements.
1) I agree that there is a difference between mice and men, but the rest of that sentence is largely irrelevant. Exercise has not been shown to have been of benefit in weight loss or many other conditions. See here
2) There are other studies, dating as far back as 1944, also conducted on humans, which show that a high-fat, high-protein breakfast is superior to cereals (see for weightloss, to prevent gallstones, to prevent diabetes, for brain function and many more conditions.)
3) Name one! Saturated fat has not been shown to cause heart disease
4) In energy terms, the average woman needs some 2,000 kcals and the average man needs 2,500 kcals So in what way is 450 kcals excessive? The accepted meal practices of most people is for three meals a day. If the woefully inadequate 170 kcal breakfast suggested by the cereal manufacturers is eaten that means the other two are going to be huge. And if they are also carbohydrate based, it is no wonder that obesity and diabetes are have increased so dramatically recently.
5) Based on what evidence? Both obesity and heart disease have been shown to improve on a high-fat diet; and colorectal cancers are increased not by fats but by carbohydrates.
6) That's true. But what we call a 'healthy diet' is anything but healthy.
7) All the evidence suggests that a fried 'English' breakfast — without cereals, baked beans, toast and jam, is the best way to start the day. And since there is no reason to regard breakfast any differently from any other meal of the day, you could have a steak and veges instead if you wish.
The press release was from a PR company representing the UK’s leading breakfast cereal manufacturers, which includes Cereal Partners, Dailycer, Dorset Cereals, Jordans, Kellogg’s, Mornflake, Quaker and Weetabix. It also stated that "Breakfast cereals are the most popular breakfast food with 88% of UK adults sometimes eating it and two thirds having it at least once a week". And it shows in their expanding waistlines!
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