Breakfast : an Energy Boost to Start the Day

Milk products and healthy weight
Whole grains and weight
References
 

Most Health Professionals, Especially Dietitians, Acknowledge the Importance of Breakfast. Most ordinary Canadians have also heard this often enough. However, a pan-Canadian survey conducted in July 2006 among 1,000 respondents showed that 40% of Canadians do not eat breakfast daily.¹ Fifty percent of those respondents reported ‘lack of time’ as the main obstacle.Yet how much time does it take to prepare and eat a morning bowl of cereal and milk?

Perhaps Canadians don’t fully appreciate just how important breakfast may be to their overall health. Or, the excellent nutritional value of a simple bowl of whole grain cereal and milk, served with some fruit. Perhaps now would be a good time to examine the latest scientific data on breakfast, and breakfast cereal with milk, with a view to making this meal more compelling.

Improved Nutrient Profiles
Eating breakfast helps improve a person’s overall nutritional profile. Studies have shown that men and women who eat breakfast get more nutrients—such as fibre, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and folic acid—compared with those who don’t eat breakfast.^2-5 Breakfast is also a choice time for consuming foods from the two food groups that Canadian consumers neglect most—milk products and vegetables and fruit.^6,7

Eating cereal with milk for breakfast regularly can significantly increase fibre, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, folic acid, and B-complex (B1, B2, B6) vitamin intake.⁸ And, the milk increases calcium and vitamin D levels appreciably.⁸

A number of studies have highlighted the extra health benefits of whole grains, such as the potential protection they may offer against chronic diseases, specifically diabetes, cancer and heart disease.^9-11 It’s important to keep in mind that in the past, whole grains were seen largely as a vehicle for fibre. But today we know that whole grains provide much more: vitamins, minerals and hundreds of phytonutrients, in addition to the naturally occurring fibre. Whole grains can come from any type of grain: wheat, oats, corn, rice, barley, etc. Made from whole grain flour, whole grain cereals provide a convenient and complete grain package.

Milk products and healthy weight
Breakfast and Healthy Weight
One out of three Canadians—mainly women—is trying to lose weight,¹² often employing methods that may pose nutritional risks. Adopting a healthy lifestyle, including eating breakfast on a regular basis could help them achieve and maintain a healthy weight. In fact, epidemiological studies have established a positive association between eating breakfast regularly and maintaining a healthy weight.^2,3,13,14  Furthermore, research indicates that people who eat breakfast daily appear to have a significantly lower body weight than those who tend to skip breakfast .^2,13

The potential role of milk on weight management
According to numerous recent studies, calcium and/or milk products may play an important role in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Milk products appear to be more effective than the calcium in supplements, which suggests that other components in milk are also important in managing weight.¹⁵ Evidence from epidemiological studies^16-22 and clinical trials^15,23-26 suggests that consuming too few milk products may, over time, lead to both weight gain and accumulation of more body fat.

Whole grains and weight

A cereal advantage
Many studies have also linked cereal consumption with improved weight management.^2,8,13 A study by Song et al. established a significant association between regular cereal consumption and a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 among women.² The study suggested that eating cereal helps manage weight more effectively than eating any other type of breakfast meal.

The role of whole grains
A number of recent studies have linked the consumption of whole grains^9,16,27-29 with healthy weight management. As part of the Nurses’ Health Study²⁸—a 12-year prospective study of over 75,000 nurses—Liu et al. noted that weight gain was inversely associated with whole grain consumption. Possible mechanisms suggested include the satiating effect of whole grain foods and the role whole grains may play in lowering insulin demand and glucose response.³⁰

The Bottom Line

Today’s fast pace has spurred a growing number of Canadians to try combining healthy eating with practicality and speed. With so many Canadians not eating breakfast, the challenge for dietitians and other health professionals is to stress the importance of the first meal of the day while taking into account the realities of modern-day life. The consumption survey cited earlier identified a cereal breakfast as Canadians’ favourite option.¹ Eating a bowl of cereal combining whole grains, milk and fruit, not only meets Canadians’ lifestyle needs, it’s a practical and effective way to promote long term health, meet daily nutrition needs and manage weight in a healthy way.

References
1 CROP Research. 2006. Breakfast habits of Canadians, survey conducted on the first week of July 2006.

2 Song WO et al. 2005. Is consumption of breakfast associated with BMI in US adults? J Am Diet Assoc 105(9):1373-82.

3 Affenito SG et al. 2004. Breakfast consumption by African-American and white adolescent girls correlates positively with calcium and fibre intake and negatively with BMI. Am J Clin Nutr 79(4):698-706.

4 Kerver JM et al. 2006. Meal and Snack patterns are associated with dietary intake of energy and nutrients in US adults. J Am Diet Assoc 106(1):46-53.

5 Nicklas TA et al. 1998. Nutrient contributions of breakfast, secular trends, and the role of RTEC: a review of data from the Bogalusa Heart study. Am J Clin Nutr 67(suppl 4):757S-63S.

6 Didier Garriguet. 2006. Nutrition: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey. 2006. Overview of Canadians’ Eating Habits, 2004. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 82-620-MIE—No.2, ISSN: 1716-6713, ISBN: 0-662-4317-2.

7 Starkey LJ et al. 2001. Food habits of Canadians: Comparison of intakes in adults and adolescents to Canada’s food guide to healthy eating. Can J Diet Pract Res 62(2):61-9.

8 Bertrais S et al. 2000. Contribution of RTEC to nutrition intakes in French adults and relations with corpulence. Ann Nutr Metab 44:249-55.

9 Murtaugh MA et al. 2003. Epidemiological support for the protection of whole grain against diabetes. Proc Nutr Soc 62(1):143-9.

10 Seal CJ. 2006.Whole grains and CVD risk. Proc Nutr Soc 65(1):24-34.

11 Slavin JL. 2000. Mechanisms for the impact of whole grain foods on cancer risk. J Am Coll Nutr 19:300S-307S.

12 National Institute of Nutrition and Canadian Food Information Council. 2004. Tracking Nutrition Trends V. Net V Survey.

13 Cho S et al. 2003.The effect of breakfast type on total daily energy intake and BMI. J Am Coll Nutr 22(4):296-302.

14 Wyatt HR et al. 2002. Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). Obes Res 10:78-82.

15 Zemel MB et al. 2004. Calcium and dairy acceleration of weight and fat loss during energy restriction in obese adults. Obes Res 12:582-90.

16 Newby PK et al. 2003. Dietary patterns and changes in body mass index and waist circumference in adults. Am J Clin Nutr 77(6):1417-25.

17 Jacqmain M et al. 2003. Calcium intake, body composition, and lipoprotein-lipid concentration in adults. Am J Clin Nutr 77(6):1448-52.

18 Novotny R et al. 2004. Dairy intake is associated with lower body fat and soda intake with greater weight in adolescent girls. J Nutr 134:1905-09.

19 Mirmiran P et al. 2005. Dairy consumption and body mass index: an inverse relationship. Int J Obes 29:115-21.

20 Carruth BR and Skinner JD. 2001.The role of dietary calcium and other nutrients in moderating body fat in preschool children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 25:559-66.

21 Drapeau V et al. 2004. Modifications in food-group consumption are related to long-term body-weight changes. Am J Clin Nutr 80:29-37.

22 Marques-Vidal P et al. 2006. Milk intake is inversely related to obesity in men and in young women: Data from the Portuguese Health Interview Survey 1998-1999. Int J Obes (Lond) 30(1):88-93.

23 Thompson WG et al. 2005. Effect of energy-reduced diets high in dairy products and fiber on weight loss in obese adults. Obes Res 13:1344-53.

24 Jacobsen R et al. 2005. Effect of short-term high dietary calcium intake on 24-h energy expenditure, fat oxidation, and fecal fat excretion. Int J Obes 29:292-301.

25 Zemel MB et al. 2005. Effects of calcium and dairy on body composition and weight loss in African-American adults. Obes Res 13(7):1218-25.

26 Summerbell CD et al. 1998. Randomised controlled trial of novel, simple, and well supervised weight reducing diets in outpatients. BMJ 317:1487-9.

27 Bazzano LA et al. 2005. Dietary intake of whole and refined grain breakfast cereals and weight gain in men. Obes Res 13(11):1952-60.

28 Liu S et al. 2003. Relation between changes in intakes of dietary fibre and grain products and changes in weight and development of obesity among middle-aged women. Am J Clin Nutr 78:920-7.

29 Koh-Banerjee P et al. 2004. Changes in whole-grain, bran, and cereal fibre consumption in relation to 8-y weight gain among men. Am J Clin Nutr 80(5):1237-45.

30 Koh-Banerjee P and Rimm EB. 2003. Whole grain consumption and weight gain: a review of the epidemiological evidence, potential mechanisms and opportunities for future research. Proc Nutr Soc 62:25-9.