Tag Archives: breakfast

Worried About Your Heart? Don’t Skip Breakfast!

Today’s post is another in recognition of American Heart Month. Many of us can recall being reminded by our mother to “eat your breakfast” when we were young, usually as teenagers. It turns out that as is usually the case, mom was giving us good advice.

An interesting study from a research group primarily located in Spain and the US used data from PESA (Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis) and looked at the association of breakfast styles and cardiovascular risk factors and the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis.

The PESA study is an ongoing observational investigation of over 4000 employees who work at the Bank Santander Headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Female and male participants in the study were ages 40-54, and were free from cardiovascular disease at the time of enrollment in the study. The participants were asked to complete a computerized food questionnaire, which included over 800 food items. Based on this data the “energy consumed during breakfast” was calculated.

Three different categories of breakfast patterns were established. First were the “breakfast skippers”, whose breakfast intake did not exceed 5% of the their total daily energy intake. The next category was the “low energy” breakfast group, who consumed between 5% and 20% of their total daily energy intake at breakfast. The third group was the “high energy” breakfast group which consisted of those who consumed more than 20% of their total energy intake at breakfast. Of the over 4000 study subjects, 3% were in the “breakfast skipper” group, 69% were in the “low energy” group, and 28% were in the “high energy” breakfast group.

Ultrasound was used to assess for atherosclerotic plaques in the carotids, the abdominal aorta, and the illiofemoral arteries. The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis for the PESA subjects was 62.5% in the “breakfast skippers” group, 60.3% in the “low energy” group, and 13.4% in the “high energy” group.

Importantly, regularly skipping breakfast was associated with 2.57 higher odds for generalized atherosclerosis, and 1.55 higher odds for noncoronary atherosclerosis, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking).

So, make some time in the morning for breakfast. It turns out mom was right, again.

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”. Lewis Carroll

(Source- Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 70, No. 15, 2017)

This blog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Mom Was Right- Eat Your Wheaties

MHW_15

“Hope makes a good breakfast. Eat plenty of it”.
Ian Fleming

 

In today’s installment in honor of Men’s Health Week I will review a study from Harvard University which examined the relationship between eating breakfast and risk of coronary heart disease, in a group of male health professionals.

Researchers look at data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). which is an ongoing study of over 51,000 male health professionals from the U.S. The HPFS began enrolling subjects in 1986, and included men ages 40-75 at that time. After exclusions, nearly 27,000 men were enrolled in the sample. Dieting assessments were made by having the subjects fill out a dieting questionnaire. coronary heart disease (CHD)  was defined as non-fatal MI (heart attack) or fatal CHD, and was assessed by questionnaires as well as review of medical records and autopsy reports.

The results of the study showed that in age-adjusted models men who skipped breakfast had a 33% higher risk of coronary heart disease, compared to those who ate their breakfast.

Also, men who ate breakfast late at night (defined as eating that occurs after going to bed) had a 55% higher risk of coronary heart diseases, compared to men who are not late night snackers.

It should be noted that this study was comprised almost exclusively of Caucasian males, and as such, the results may or may not be applicable to women or other ethnic groups. It would be interesting to see if these same results could be replicated in women or other ethnic groups.

So, for those of us who were told that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”  or to “eat your Wheaties”, it appears that once again, mom was right.

(Source- Circulation 2013;128:337-343)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.