James Lefanu The pros and cons of skipping breakfast
His observations contradict the prevailing advice to diabetics to stick to three meals a day
Down through the centuries, the popularity of breakfast has ebbed and flowed. “Back at the hut, Odysseus and the noble swineherd had lit a dawn fire and were making breakfast,” writes Homer. But the Church disapproved: for St Thomas Aquinas, it represented
praepropere, the sin of eating too soon, a form of gluttony, and throughout the Middle Ages it fell out of fashion. The Tudors reinvented it and, before long, it had become a feast – mutton chops, bacon, eggs, muffins and even pies – only for it to be supplanted in turn by the advocates of the Popular Health Movement, such as John Kellogg who made a fortune from marketing their breakfast cereals.
The upshot being that breakfast is a matter of personal and cultural preference. Hence the news last week that experts have discovered it makes little difference one way or another how you start the day – light or cooked breakfast, or none at all – should be no surprise.
There is, as always, an exception, well argued by distinguished doctor and biochemist Terence Kealey, formerly vice-chancellor of Buckingham University and contributor to this paper over the years. Eight years ago, Dr Kealey developed the classic symptoms of diabetes and, being an inquisitive scientist, made a habit of monitoring his blood sugar levels with a glucometer.
“My readings were dismayingly high first thing in the morning,” he writes, “but would then rise much further still, hazardously so, after breakfast.” If, however, he skipped breakfast, they fell to normal during the morning.
His observations, well documented by others, contradict the prevailing advice to those with diabetes on the imperative of sticking to three proper meals a day. So now instead he adheres to the rule of “not a calorie before midday”.
Dr Kealey has a strong cup of black coffee on rising followed by some vigorous exercise, such as a run or swim, and arrives at work “energised” for the day. His sugar levels remain well within the normal range, aided by a lowcarbohydrate diet and a small daily dose of metformin.
He elaborates on his instructive experience in his recently published – and provocatively titled – Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal (£12.99, Fourth Estate).
Statins statistics
“So what are we to think?” laments one of several readers on a theme. “Only recently, you advised us to bin our statins at the age of
75. Now we learn that they both prolong and improve our lives.”
This most recent report to which she alludes certainly seems authoritative. Currently, 1.5million people over 75 take statins, but were a further four million to do so, claims Prof Colin Baigent of Oxford University, this would save up to 8,000 lives a year.
These figures in turn are based on a massive study synthesising the findings of their “efficacy and safety in older people” from 22 clinical trials, involving almost 150,000 participants. You don’t get more authoritative than that!
It is thus a tad surprising to learn, given Prof Baigent’s interpretation, that only eight per cent of those taking part in the clinical trials were over the age of 75. And among these patients, the merits of the drug were scarcely detectable, while they neither reduced the chances of a fatal heart attack nor prolonged life. As for their possible downside, Prof Baigent insists the risk of side effects is much exaggerated (“fake news”, he describes it): “The benefits greatly exceed any known harms.” Perhaps – but then, perhaps not.
Rocking sensation
This week’s medical query comes courtesy of Mrs CA from Huddersfield, who experiences a “shaking or rocking sensation” throughout her body without “any outward physical manifestation”. This varies in intensity from day to day but, at its worst, will interfere with her sleep for several consecutive nights at a stretch.
Might anyone, she wonders, be able to advise on what it is, what is the cause – and how best to deal with it?