SHR

In a previous article I discussed a study showing that skipping breakfast does indeed lead to greater food and calorie intake during lunch, but not nearly enough to compensate for the calories not consumed at breakfast.  The researchers were able to show this outcome because they allowed for ad libitum food intake at lunch, meaning that the study participants could eat as much food as they wanted. This makes perfect sense considering the entire point of these studies is to compare how breakfast consumption or omission affects subsequent food intake, but it leaves an incomplete picture of the metabolic and hormonal effects breakfast may or may not have. What if eating as much food as you wanted at lunch wasn’t an option? What if you exercised later in the day? Many individuals who decide to skip breakfast do so in order to aid weight loss, and many may choose to monitor...

Is Exercise Really Medicine? An Evolutionary Perspective Daniel Lieberman from the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University recently published an editorial in Current Sports Medicine Reports asking several questions: Why do so many people fail to act in their own best self-interest, at least in terms of promoting good health? Why is exercise actually necessary for health? And what explains the exercise paradox: most people avoid exercise even though physical activity is vital for health? To answer these questions, Lieberman adopts an evolutionary perspective, asking first what types of exercise humans are adapted for and then why exercise may be considered medicine. Obviously all animals are adapted for some type of physical activity, but humans are unique among the primates in that we evolved to run; we became bipedal, started sweating, and developed big butts. In short, the demands of hunting and gathering account for a wide range of novel...

Let there be no ambiguity, I do not agree with every aspect of the paleo diet. But this does not mean that I am against it. I believe that the paleo diet lays out very simple guidelines that virtually any person can follow with ease, and this in turn serves as an excellent starting point – “blank slate” or “template” if you will – from which a person can experiment and find what works best for their individuality. There is certainly no shortage of anecdotal testimonials to support the notion that “switching to” a paleo diet benefits health and wellbeing, but many of the claims are incredibly hyperbolic and there is literally no way for anyone to know if this was owed to the paleo diet, per se. This is why research exists – to build and organize knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions. So what can we...

Breakfast has long been hailed the most important meal of the day, and a temendous amount of research has been conducted to compare breakfasts of varied quantity or composition. However, recent evidence does indeed suggest that this meal is overrated. As David Levitsky from Cornell University puts it, “Myths abound in nutrition. Many, like the consumption of breakfast, are driven by powerful commercial interests. In the current environment in which the major nutritional problem we face is the increasing prevalence of obesity, we, as nutrition scientists, must consider the possible harm we are doing by perpetuating myths such as the value of consuming breakfast. Surely, eating breakfast adds to the quality of nutrients consumed, but breakfast foods can be eaten at lunch or dinner as well.” This isn’t to say that breakfast is bad, although that argument could be made if you look at what most Americans are eating for breakfast, but...