Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Breakfast Became a Thing

priceonomics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 201 posts

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#151

Post by kefka »

fasteo wrote: post #127
visakanv wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood, and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-medicate with cigarettes. I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so much clearer…

That was also my case as an adult. Solved by eating much more at night, carbs included. I was just not consuming enough calories. So, another myth - carbs are bad at night - that did not apply to me.

Carbohydrates are bad for me, period. I'm diabetic (type 2), and even the American Diabetes Association says I should be eating around 60g carbs/meal.

After some rudimentary data science liberally using the glucometer, I can tell you what my body does after all types of simple sugars as well as some complex sugars... And my limit per day is around 10g carbs. I will change this up to reintroduce some foods I may not normally eat (like high fiber low carb bread, or Ryvita rye crisps).

When I was initially diagnosed, my fasting was 161mg/dL and a1c=7.1 . Now, my blood sugar when I wake up in the morning is around 85-105, which is normal. I've also lost 50 lbs

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#152

Post by rhinoceraptor »

paulddraper wrote: post #128
VeejayRampay wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really no. Our bodies have not evolved since the point in time where the access to food was much more difficult, it is perfectly adapted to not getting energy intake regularly.

That's just not true. I can run much farther if I ate my previous meal than if I didn't. And the effects of skipping breakfast on the cognition of children have been studied ad nauseam. A lengthy list: http://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/breakfastforlearn...

> I can run much farther if I ate my previous meal than if I didn't

If anything I would think the reverse to be true. Runners and cyclists eat sugar gels instead of 'real food' because gels are easier to digest, and all the energy you spend on digestion isn't spent on the activity.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#153

Post by blowski »

visakanv wrote: post #124
jcoffland wrote: post #119

It's just amazing how much "common knowledge" about food has been shown to be completely wrong: * Breakfast is the most important meal [0] * Saturated fat is bad [1] * Carbs are evil [2] * You regain more weight after a fast diet [3] Many will argue but studies have show each one of these to be wrong. [0]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/10/the-s... [1]: http://www.eufic.org/page/en/show/latest-sc…

I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood, and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-medicate with cigarettes. I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so much clearer…

A balanced diet where you don't eat too much seems to be the other big idea.

Of course, both of these big ideas don't make good books or TV shows or special diet products.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#154

Post by fenomas »

dTal wrote: post #133
tagrun wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that's a hint that links from such sites aren't mostly welcome here?

I think there's something in this. Constant complaint discussions are a way of applying social pressure. If every discussion on an article with an egregious anti-pattern gets hijacked, people might tend to submit such articles less, or find alternate sources that don't have those anti-patterns. This costs page views for the sites that do them, and rewards the sites that don't.

Firstly, the way to show what sites you approve of is with votes, not by hijacking comment. Degrading HN comment pages doesn't apply social pressure to anyone.

Secondly, I doubt there's a site on the internet that doesn't have some technical or design issue that someone finds egregious. If everyone did what you're suggesting then every comment thread on HN would get hijacked.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#155

Post by AstralStorm »

blowski wrote: post #153
visakanv wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood, and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-medicate with cigarettes. I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so much clearer…

A balanced diet where you don't eat too much seems to be the other big idea. Of course, both of these big ideas don't make good books or TV shows or special diet products.

Ideas, shmideas. What we need is prospective studies of good quality. Mostly because hindsight does not work due to way too many correlations which cannot be untangled even with best statistical methods.

There are very few of those good prospective and long term studies. And way too few have follow up study.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#156

Post by matt4077 »

blowski wrote: post #153
visakanv wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood, and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-medicate with cigarettes. I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so much clearer…

A balanced diet where you don't eat too much seems to be the other big idea. Of course, both of these big ideas don't make good books or TV shows or special diet products.

Au contraire! That idea makes an excellent book, and also a pretty good free article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#157

Post by vintermann »

kefka wrote: post #151
fasteo wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was also my case as an adult. Solved by eating much more at night, carbs included. I was just not consuming enough calories. So, another myth - carbs are bad at night - that did not apply to me.

Carbohydrates are bad for me, period. I'm diabetic (type 2), and even the American Diabetes Association says I should be eating around 60g carbs/meal. After some rudimentary data science liberally using the glucometer, I can tell you what my body does after all types of simple sugars as well as some complex sugars... And my limit per day is around 10g carbs. I will change this up to reintroduce some foods I may not n…

If that's what you can get from ad-hoc data science on yourself, I'm looking forward to what we will learn a couple of years down the line from fitbits and what will come after them. Scary, yes, but there's also an immense upside.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#158

Post by AstralStorm »

kefka wrote: post #151
fasteo wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was also my case as an adult. Solved by eating much more at night, carbs included. I was just not consuming enough calories. So, another myth - carbs are bad at night - that did not apply to me.

Carbohydrates are bad for me, period. I'm diabetic (type 2), and even the American Diabetes Association says I should be eating around 60g carbs/meal. After some rudimentary data science liberally using the glucometer, I can tell you what my body does after all types of simple sugars as well as some complex sugars... And my limit per day is around 10g carbs. I will change this up to reintroduce some foods I may not n…

Sample of one without correction for caloric intake?

See, losing weight fixes many numbers.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#159

Post by AstralStorm »

ak39 wrote: post #130
visakanv wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if there's one big idea about nutrition, it should be that there are no one-size-fits-all answers. I skipped breakfast for most of my childhood, and I had no idea why I was so lethargic all the time. I was typically anxious from undone schoolwork, etc and had no appetite in the morning. I'd self-medicate with cigarettes. I started forcing myself to eat breakfast about a year ago and my mind is so much clearer…

This is true for parenting too. You cannot take cookie cut wisdom and apply (CROSS APPLY t-sql style) to all. The wisdom has to be applied "Bayesian" style ... "Given subject with attributes x, y and z, apply optimisation function."

You don't have valid data to do that, because almost nobody does. The best data driven result is to eat much more fresh fruit and vegetables. Skip highly processed ready to eat food.

Perhaps eat much less meat that Standard American Diet. Sure, high protein diets tend to cause rapid weight losses, but there is not enough trustworthy data to ascertain their long term safety and effects.

Re: How Breakfast Became a Thing

#160

Post by a_imho »

soared wrote: post #83
nihonde wrote: post #70

In Japan, I learned what a truly healthy breakfast is. Most days I eat a bowl of brown rice with a raw egg stirred in and a dash of high-quality soy sauce and topped with natto. Some days I'll also grill salmon or smelt. On the side, I usually have tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and miso soup. Protein, probiotics, pickles...once you get used to it, the idea of eating sweet desserts for breakfast (which is what most p…

I was curious if raw eggs were actually healthy after reading your comment. I was never allowed to eat raw eggs growing up. A little google-fu says he risk of salmonella is overstated and extremely rare, but the USDA and others still suggest avoiding raw eggs. Not much definitive on cooking vs. raw though.

I can't find the source, but egg protein digestibility is increased by heat treatment, boiling being the most effective preparation method afair.
Post reply on HN