Here’s your argument the next time your mother nags at you to eat something in the morning.
Here’s your argument the next time your mother nags at you to eat something in the morning.
We’ve all heard it before. Skipping breakfast in the morning is bad for you. Like, really, really, bad. And there’s scientific proof too. So, basically, f*** your life if you don’t eat your kaya toast in the morning, right?
Hold up, because one Aaron E. Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, argues that these research results shouldn’t be taken at face value. When you actually take a closer look at the research methodologies, and who funds most of these researches (hint: large companies in the food industry), you’ll see that most of the findings about skipping breakfast are associations, as opposed to causations.
Writing in the New York Times, Aaron reasoned that there’s a bias as people often interpret their results in favour of the “skipping breakfast will make you fat” theory. And the evidence for that case is not that solid either, considering that most of these studies are not randomised, controlled trials like proper scientific research should be. So… it’s okay if we just down a cup of coffee for breakfast then? “The bottom line is that the evidence for the importance of breakfast is something of a mess. If you’re hungry, eat it,” said Aaron. “But don’t feel bad if you’d rather skip it, and don’t listen to those who lecture you. Breakfast has no mystical powers.”
