Sunday, January 22, 2017

Many studies saying breakfast aides weight loss may be industry funded...

Cereal makers have happily encouraged the belief that eating breakfast can help keep us thin and bring other benefits, partly by paying for studies that seem to support the idea.

So, does that mean breakfast is bad for you? Not that either. What it does show is how difficult it can be to sort the hype from reliable dietary advice when studies are funded by the makers of Froot Loops, nutrition science is often inconclusive, and gray areas can be spun for marketing.

Take Special K. In the 1990s, Special K boxes featured findings that people who didn't normally eat breakfast lost more weight after they started doing so.

"That was the little piece they put on the cereal box," said David Schlundt, a co-author of the study of about 50 women. Not mentioned on those boxes: Regular breakfast eaters who started skipping the meal lost even more weight, compared to those who stuck with their routines.

That doesn't mean particular breakfasts can't help some people control their appetites, or bring other benefits like energy. Schlundt's study was tiny. But it shows how easy it is to simplify the complexities and limitations of nutrition science and cherry-pick the findings. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. The truth about breakfast cereals. It's not what you think...
  2. The "natural" label on your food is baloney...
  3. Why those 'super healthy' foods are simply a gimmick...
  4. Is organic food really good for you?

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