Most important meal of the day
He likes it! Hey, Mikey! Also, 7 other things worth your time.
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Bill is traveling today, so your Understandably morning newsletter is brought to you by Kate Sullivan and the letter B (you’ll see why in a minute)…
Most of us fall into one of three groups in the morning:
All I need is coffee to survive;
I’ll grab something on the way, I guess;
Bacon, eggs, two pancakes...or an artfully arranged smoothie bowl.
The latter category sticks to the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day—interestingly enough, a concept that didn’t really exist until the 1920s, when a PR flak for Beech-Nut Foods, Edward Bernays, engineered a survey getting doctors to say that a bacon-and-eggs breakfast was the best way to start off.
Before that, folks just ate what they could, when they could—preferably loading up on calories early as a way to fuel themselves for a day that most likely included a lot of manual labor.
After Bernays, though, the idea of breakfast being paramount took hold (and yes, Beech-Nut sold a whole lot of bacon as a result).
Today, you see plenty of reminders to eat your Wheaties, drink that OJ, and maybe down an overpriced smoothie or egg-white omelet if you’re concerned about calories or health.
Recently, however, skepticism has abounded. Some studies have suggested that breakfast doesn’t really matter, and it’s back to the old ways of eating, where as long as you get the appropriate amount of calories and nutrients at some point during the day, you’ll be just fine.
And the general, sensible consensus is that eating real food—things your grandmother would recognize if she read the ingredients on the label—will keep you the healthiest.
But a study earlier this year in the journal Proceedings of the Nutrition Society suggests that your bowl of processed breakfast cereal may, in fact, be more important than we thought.
Researchers from the Ohio State University studied the breakfast habits of 30,000 American adults. They found that people who skipped breakfast wound up lacking a host of vital nutrients, missing out on calcium, iron, zinc, and a range of vitamins.
In other words: they didn’t just make up the nutrients later in the day. However, folks who skipped breakfast did seem to snack more—and they were eating sugary, fatty stuff instead of, you know, apples.
So, looking closer, it seems as though that common wisdom about eating breakfast is right, even if it has its roots in a 100-year-old PR campaign.
And all those missing nutrients? They’re packed into fortified cereals.
That’s right, a bowl of highly processed, vitamin-infused raisin bran can make the difference between being nutrient-deficient and having what your body needs to maintain itself.
Some of those essential nutrients missing in the study subjects were specifically those crammed into processed breakfast products: folate, vitamin D, niacin, and so on. Of course, you could get them through fresh foods eaten throughout the day, like mushrooms, fortified milk, or broccoli.
But for people who can’t or won’t do that, for whatever reason, the easy way to get your RDA is through foods engineered to include these nutrients.
Oddly enough, because of all the attention paid to kids’ nutrition, and to remaking cereal formulas using more natural ingredients in the last year or two, even a bowl of Froot Loops may therefore be arguably better for your long-term health than grabbing a banana on your way to work.
Because breakfast, to quote Christopher Taylor, PhD, one of the study’s authors, is a “unique meal opportunity.”
And although the study was funded by the National Dairy Association Mideast, a bowl of cereal and some milk is probably still a better choice than Edward Bernays’s two rashers of fatty bacon.
So what do you eat for breakfast? Are you a coffee-only person, a smoothie fan, or is every day pancake day?
7 other things worth your time
The brutal heat wave scorching the Pacific Northwest continues, with temperatures exceeding 100F and expected to go to 115F or higher throughout the region. Utility companies are warning of rolling blackouts and bridges are being hosed down with cool water to prevent them from buckling. (AP)
A couple of not-so-missing links? Two archaeological discoveries may give new insight into where modern humans come from: 100,000-year-old bones found in Israel may be from a previously unknown type of primitive human. Meanwhile, another ancient skull, originally unearthed in the 1930s, has re-emerged in China. Dubbed "Dragon Man," it may be not a missing link but a parallel type of human like the Neanderthals. (Guardian; BBC)
United Airlines just placed its largest-ever order, contracting for a total of 270 planes from Boeing and Airbus as it overhauls its fleet to both retire aging planes and plan for a new growth spurt. Among them: a total of 200 737 MAX aircraft. COO Andrew Nocella: the new planes will “secure a spot for everybody’s onboard bag.” (Airways Magazine)
The US Supreme Court declined to hear arguments in a case in which a Virginia school board in 2015 banned a transgender student from using the boys’ bathroom. The decision means lower courts’ rulings that the board’s policy violated Title IX, a federal civil rights law barring sex-based discrimination, will stand. (AP)
Japan’s pandemic case numbers are on the rise, and Tokyo’s governor has taken time off to be treated for exhaustion and possibly other illness just 3 weeks before the Olympics are due to start. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has suggested that a new lockdown might be coming, even as athletes begin making plans to arrive and 58% of Tokyo residents polled oppose holding the Olympics as planned. (Bloomberg)
An Arizona bill allowing women who have had a child due to rape to terminate their rapist’s parental rights has passed the state legislature. Previously, rapists could share parenting rights with their victims. The bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Victoria Steele, said, “While we cannot change what happened in the past, we can change what happens in the future and lessen the pain by not allowing a rapist parental rights.” (Newsweek)
As if doing 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter sprint, long jump, javelin throw, and a 800-meter run wasn’t enough, US heptathlete Lindsay Flach is making the rest of us look even worse by competing in the Olympic trials while 18 weeks pregnant. (HuffPost; @Fast_Women)
Thanks for reading. Photo credit: Pixabay. Want to see all my mistakes? Click here.
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I can eat breakfast and go the remainder of the day without eating if I have to. (Co-workers would sometimes get mad because I did not take a lunch break when out doing field work). If I do not eat breakfast i will often get a headache. My breakfast varies between bacon, eggs, toast, orange juice, etc. But the staple is raisin bran with added fruit such as banana and raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. I also enjoy good oatmeal with some brown sugar, pecans and walnuts, a few raisins and add a touch of milk or cream. One thing I try to do 30 minutes before I eat is drink a large glass of water with lemon juice, honey, and apple cider vinegar. For me, I definitely believe that breakfast is the most important meal.
Well, since you asked, I have a hearty bowl of oatmeal 6 out of 7 days of the week. On that 7th day I cheat with an egg, 2pcs crisp bacon and 2 biscuits. My oatmeal though I would never miss. To that is always added a banana, one of two eaten primarily for the potassium they provide, blueberries, dried sour cherries or other fresh or frozen fruit. To complete my breakfast I add a serving of M & Ms, 16 oz decaf and a quart of water. This woman has got to have her chocolate after all. Then, before 4:00, I will have my last meal for the day and that will vary. I try to eat a fairly balanced diet but it doesn’t always happen. I’ve been on an intermediate fasting eating schedule now for two years, have lost 35 pounds and feel great. Every once in a while I’ll pull a 24 hour fast just to keep my body guessing. I’ll drink at least another 32 oz of herbal tea or water before the day is over as hydration is important(it also helps you feel full until you get used to this regimen). I got off my dairy pretty much. I do keep kefir in the fridge and enjoy that during the week but my diet of healthy smoothies just made me gain way too much weight. Intermediate fasting has been my lifesaver and my doc has been watching for any bad effects but so far, there are none.