Q: I'm not much of a breakfast person, and sometimes, I don't even have a chance to eat anything until lunchtime or after. I don't get too hungry most of the time, and I eat a pretty decent dinner, but I keep reading that I'm supposed to be eating breakfast and that it's bad if you don't. Is that really true, or are people just trying to make me feel bad?
A: I'm glad you asked this question; our "How to..." column this month addresses just this topic! Eating breakfast is an important way to start your day and refuel after a night's sleep. Breakfast helps to replenish your glucose, or blood sugar, levels, giving you energy, both mentally and physically, for your day.
Overnight, your body's metabolism slows down, and it doesn't revert back to "normal" again until you get up and start eating again. That's why it's somewhat normal for you not to feel hungry if you skip breakfast; your body hasn't had a chance to revert back to "normal" metabolism if you don't give it any fuel.
Your body may be trying to conserve calories so it doesn't send hunger signals like it does after you've eaten a meal, say, three or four hours before. Your morning metabolism - and energy level - then, is somewhat dependent on the number of calories you feed your body.
By eating breakfast, you're basically kick-starting your metabolism into gear. So, while it's not necessarily "bad" if you don't eat breakfast, it may not be a good thing, either.
You may indeed be eating a good dinner, but you can go a long way to stretching your caloric intake over the course of the day and ensuring you get all the nutrients you need by eating breakfast - even if it's a quick breakfast on the go.
For more reasons to eat breakfast and some on-the-go breakfast ideas, read the "How to...break your habit of skipping breakfast, the most important meal of the day" column.
Q: Is it really true that you shouldn't eat after 8 p.m.? I've heard that late-night eating makes you gain weight.
A: The determinant of whether you gain weight or not is the amount of calories you eat in relation to the amount of calories you burn - regardless of what time of day you eat. Excess calories will be stored as fat - no matter if you overindulge at breakfast and don't compensate for those extra calories later, or you eat a piece of pizza that you didn't "budget" for at 11:30 at night.
The issue with late-night eating is usually that people are either starving because they haven't eaten anything substantial all day, or are eating out of boredom-and thus, they tend to overeat. This leads to eating more calories overall than they need, which can lead to weight gain.
Many people try not to eat past 6 or 8 or 9 p.m. because they can't control themselves from overeating later at night. But if you're staying up late studying - especially if you're staying up until 12 or 1 or 2 a.m. - you will probably need a snack.
Your body needs some fuel every three to four hours, so if you eat dinner at six and stay up until midnight, you'll likely get hungry.
And you'll need a healthy snack to power through your late-night study session! Choose a healthy snack such as fruit and peanut butter, veggies and hummus, low-fat microwave popcorn or trail mix-nuts, raisins and cereal, for example.
Q: Do coffee and soda count against your daily fluid requirement? I've heard they just make you go to the bathroom more, so they don't count as part of your "eight glasses a day."
A: While it is true that caffeinated coffee and soda have a slight diuretic effect (meaning they increase frequency of urination), they don't necessarily count "against" your fluid requirement; that is, you will not lose more water than you will gain by drinking coffee or soda.
Because these drinks are mostly water (coffee is about 95-99 percent water, while regular soft drinks are 80-89 percent water - because they also contain sugar - and diet sodas are nearly 100 percent water, but they still may contain caffeine), you will be getting some of your fluid needs when you drink these beverages.
However, these beverages are certainly not the best sources of water to meet your daily fluid requirement. If you do drink large amounts of coffee, consider switching to decaf after one or two cups.
Switch to diet soda, not only because it provides more water by volume than regular soda, but because you'll cut down on the added sugar and calories,
too.
If it's the taste of "plain" water you don't like, try flavored waters. Many companies, like Aquafina or Dasani, make lemon or berry-flavored varieties that are quite tasty.
Fruits and vegetables also have a high water content, so be sure to include plenty of these in your diet, too.
Sara Wilson is a registered dietitian and a graduate student in Nutrition Communication at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She has a BS in Nutrition from Syracuse University, and worked as a clinical dietitian prior to coming to Tufts. Wilson is also co-editor of Balance.
