Breakfast is the first
meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the
fasting period of the previous night.
[Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)]
''Breakfast: A History''
AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regions and traditions worldwide.
History
The English word "dinner" (from
Old French ) also referred originally to breaking a
fast
Fast or FAST may refer to:
* Fast (noun), high speed or velocity
* Fast (noun, verb), to practice fasting, abstaining from food and/or water for a certain period of time
Acronyms and coded Computing and software
* ''Faceted Application of Subje ...
; until its meaning shifted in the mid-13th century it was the name given to the first meal of the day. The tradition of eating a morning meal has existed since ancient times, though it was not until the 15th century that "breakfast" came into use in written English as a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
of dinner to describe a morning meal:
literally a breaking of the
fasting period of the night just ended. In
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
the term had been , literally "morning food."
Ancient breakfast
Ancient Egypt
In
Ancient Egypt, peasants ate a daily meal, most likely in the morning, consisting of
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
,
beer,
bread
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
, and
onions before they left for work in the fields or work commanded by the
pharaohs.
The traditional breakfast believed to have been cooked in ancient Egypt was fūl (made from
fava beans, possibly the ancestor of today's
ful medames),
baladi bread, made from
emmer wheat, and
falafel, and a mixture of fava beans with onions,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
,
parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...
and
.
Ancient Greece
In Greek literature, there are numerous mentions of , a meal taken not long after sunrise. The ''
Iliad'' notes this meal with regard to a labor-weary woodsman eager for a light repast to start his day, preparing it even as he is aching with exhaustion.
[Anderson, pg 9] The opening prose of the 16th book of the ''
Odyssey'' mentions breakfast as the meal being prepared in the morning before attending to one's chores. Eventually was moved to around noon, and a new morning meal was introduced.
In the post-Homeric classical period of Greece, a meal called was typically consumed immediately after rising in the morning.
(, ) consisted of
barley bread dipped in
wine (, ), sometimes complemented by
figs or
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s. They also made
pancake
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...
s called (), (). or (), all words deriving from (), meaning "frying pan". The earliest attested references on are in the works of the 5th century BC poets
Cratinus and
Magnes. Another kind of pancake was (), from (), "of flour or dough of
spelt
Spelt (''Triticum spelta''), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC.
Spelt was an important staple food in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. No ...
", derived itself from (), "flour of spelt".
Athenaeus in his
Deipnosophistae
The ''Deipnosophistae'' is an early 3rd-century AD Greek work ( grc, Δειπνοσοφισταί, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts") by the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of liter ...
mentions topped with
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
,
sesame
Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...
and
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
.
Ancient Rome
Romans called breakfast . It was usually composed of everyday staples like bread, cheese,
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s,
salad,
nuts
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
,
raisins, and cold meat left over from the night before. They also drank wine-based drinks such as , a mixture of wine, honey, and
aromatic spices. 1st century Latin poet Martial said that was eaten at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, while 16th century scholar Claudius Saumaise wrote that it was typically eaten at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. It seems unlikely that any fixed time was truly assigned for this meal.
Roman soldiers woke up to a breakfast of ,
porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
similar to the Italian
polenta
Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...
, made from roasted spelt wheat or barley that was then pounded and cooked in a
cauldron of water.
Middle Ages (500–1500)
Europe
In the European
Middle Ages, breakfast was not usually considered a necessary and important meal, and was practically nonexistent during the earlier medieval period. Monarchs and their entourages would spend a lot of time around a table for meals. Only two formal meals were eaten per day—one at mid-day and one in the evening. The exact times varied by period and region, but this two-meal system remained consistent throughout the Middle Ages.
Breakfast in some times and places was solely granted to children, the elderly, the sick, and to working men. Anyone else did not speak of or partake in eating in the morning. Eating breakfast meant that one was poor, was a low-status farmer or laborer who truly needed the energy to sustain his morning's labor, or was too weak to make it to the large, midday dinner.
In the 13th century, breakfast when eaten sometimes consisted of a piece of rye bread and a bit of cheese. Morning meals would not include any meat, and would likely include of low alcohol-content beers. Uncertain quantities of bread and ale could have been consumed in between meals.
By the 15th century, breakfast in western Europe often included meat.
By this time, noble men were seen to indulge in breakfast, making it more of a common practice, and by the early 16th century, recorded expenses for breakfast became customary. Breakfast in eastern Europe remained mostly the same as the modern day: a "continental breakfast". The 16th century introduction of caffeinated beverages into the European diet was also an addition to breakfast, believed that
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
and
tea aid the body in "evacuation of superfluities".
Modern breakfast (1500–present)
Africa
Traditionally, the various cuisines of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
use a combination of locally available
fruits,
cereal grains and
vegetables, as well as
milk and
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
products. In some parts of the continent, the traditional diet features milk,
curd
Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as lem ...
and
whey products. A type of porridge is most commonly eaten. In the book ''The Bible cyclopædia (et al.)'' published in 1843, it was documented that during this time in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
,
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...
s often utilized
locusts mixed with
butter for breakfast, spreading the mixture on unleavened bread.
= Egypt
=
In the book ''The Bible cyclopædia (et al.)'' published in 1843, it was documented that Egyptians were early risers that sometimes had a first meal consisting of coffee along with the smoking of a
pipe, and did not eat breakfast until noon.
[Goodhugh; Cooke Taylor 1843]
p. 843
At this time, it was documented that Egyptian breakfast foods included bread,
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
,
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
s,
butter,
curd
Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as lem ...
s,
clotted cream and stewed beans.
In addition, fava beans are an established national breakfast dish.
Asia
= Middle East
=
In the
Middle East region of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
, refers to the
evening meal when
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s break their (
fast
Fast or FAST may refer to:
* Fast (noun), high speed or velocity
* Fast (noun, verb), to practice fasting, abstaining from food and/or water for a certain period of time
Acronyms and coded Computing and software
* ''Faceted Application of Subje ...
) during the
Islamic month of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
. is one of the religious observances of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
, and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. is done right after (sunset) time. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims replace traditional breakfast with , an
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic term referring to the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before during daylight hours. The meal is eaten before (dawn).
= Israel
=
= Japan
=
In Japan, it is common to eat
miso soup and rice porridge for breakfast.
= Lebanon
=
In the book ''The Bible cyclopædia (et al.)'' it was documented that c. 1843, poor
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may also include those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains prior to the creation ...
would consume raw
leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
s with bread for breakfast.
Europe
= Austria
=
The
croissant appears to have originated in
Vienna, Austria, in 1683.
= France
=
French breakfasts are often similar to the continental breakfast. French breakfast
pastries include apple
turnovers
A turnover is a type of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, sealing it, and then baking it. Turnovers can be sweet or savoury and are often made as a sort of portable meal or dessert. They are often eat ...
,
brioche, croissant
[Clarke, Stephen (2012)]
''1000 Years of Annoying the French''.
Open Road Media. p. (unlisted). and
pain au chocolat. Croissants have been described as becoming a standard fare in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
breakfast cuisine by 1875.
= Netherlands
=
Breakfast usually consists of bread with a wide variety of
cold cuts, cheeses and sweet toppings; such as ''
hagelslag'', ''
vlokken'', ''
muisjes'', ',
chocolate spread,
treacle (a thick, dark brown sugar syrup called ''stroop''),
apple butter and
peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...
.
The word
waffle derives from the Dutch word , which itself derives from the Middle Dutch , and is likely the origin of the food as it is known today.
= United Kingdom
=
In the early 16th century, some physicians warned against eating breakfast, because they said it was not healthy to eat before a prior meal was digested. By the 1550s, however, there were multiple sources that claimed breakfast was an important meal. For example, in 1551, Thomas Wingfield stated that breakfast was essential. In 1589, Thomas Cogan stated that it was unhealthy to miss breakfast in the morning. He was one of the first to claim that it was healthy for those who were not young, ill or elders to eat breakfast.
The
full breakfast
A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes back bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, some form of potato, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a b ...
is a staple of
British cuisine
British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavou ...
, and typically consists of
bacon
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
,
sausages and
eggs, often served with a variety of side dishes and a beverage such as
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
or
tea. Prior to 1600, breakfast in Great Britain typically included bread, cold meat or fish, and
ale
Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typicall ...
.
Tea,
chocolate and coffee were introduced to Great Britain in the mid-1600s, and in the 1700s coffee and chocolate were adopted as breakfast drinks by the fashionable.
[Mason, Laura (2004)]
''Food Culture In Great Britain''
pp. 34–35. Greenwood Publishing Group. Tea eventually became more popular than chocolate as a breakfast drink.
North America
The first groups known to have produced
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
and
maple sugar
Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in Canada and the northeastern United States, prepared from the sap of the maple tree ("maple sap").
Sources
Three species of maple trees in the genus '' Acer'' are predominantly used to produce maple ...
were
indigenous peoples living in the northeastern part of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. According to aboriginal oral traditions, as well as archaeological evidence, maple tree sap was being processed into syrup long before Europeans arrived in the region.
= Canada
=
While it has been a source of controversy where the lumberjack breakfast came from, the most cited source is that the lumberjack breakfast was first served in a Vancouver hotel, in 1870. The breakfast consisted of eggs, assorted fried pork strips, and
flapjacks. It is said by
Anita Stewart that the tradition of hearty cooking developed because of men needing the energy for manual labor.
= Mexico
=
A typical Aztec breakfast often included corn
porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
with honey and chillies, or tortillas with beans and
salsa.
Chilaquiles
Chilaquiles () are a traditional Mexican breakfast dish consisting of corn tortillas cut into quarters and lightly fried.
Ingredients and variations
Typically, corn tortillas cut into quarters and lightly fried or baked for a lighter version ...
are a staple breakfast dish that dates back to the times of the Aztecs; they consist of
tortilla chips (locally known as "totopos") slathered in
salsa and usually come with a side of
refried beans. Depending on the region or person, they may be eaten with fried or scrambled eggs, pulled chicken, sprinkled cheese,
crema, diced onion, or chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves. Eggs are also a staple in Mexican breakfasts, scrambled and fried eggs are usually eaten with tortillas, salsa, and beans; local varieties include
huevos rancheros and "huevos con tortilla," which are scrambled eggs fried alongside pieces of corn tortillas.
Breakfast cereal
Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...
s are also common in Mexico, mainly due to American influence. Health concerns have arisen regarding the nutritional quality of processed breakfast cereal; it is estimated that Mexican preschoolers consume 7% of their total energy intake from processed breakfast cereals and that 6% of Mexican children exclusively have ready-to-eat cereals with milk for breakfast.
= United States
=
In 1620,
waffles were first introduced to North America by
pilgrims who had lived in the
Netherlands.
[Serna-Saldivar, Sergio O. (2012)]
''Cereal Grains: Laboratory Reference and Procedures Manual''
CRC Press. p. 270. Later pioneers consumed largely
cornmeal
Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...
-based breakfasts, and would also consume meals such as
oatmeal
Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...
for dinner and lunch.
Common breakfast products included
corn pone,
johnnycakes,
ashcakes,
hoe-cakes, and
corn dodgers.
Ashcakes consisted of cornmeal wrapped in
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...
leaves cooked in the ashes of a
campfire, while corn pone is baked, corn dodgers are pan fried, and hoe-cakes are similar to pancakes.
After the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
, it became fairly common in America to eat sandwiches that were made of ham and eggs. These sandwiches were not strictly consumed in the morning. In 1897, the first true
breakfast sandwich
A breakfast sandwich is any sandwich filled with foods associated with breakfast. Breakfast sandwiches are served at fast food restaurants and delicatessens, sold in supermarkets, or commonly made at home. Different types of breakfast sandwich inc ...
recipe was published in a cookbook.
Popcorn cereal was consumed by Americans in the 1800s, which typically consisted of popcorn with milk and a sweetener. Cold
breakfast cereal
Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...
has been consumed by Americans since the late 1890s, and during the 1920s a considerable number of new cereals were marketed.
[Drowne, Kathleen Morgan; Huber, Patrick (2004)]
''Nineteen Twenties''
Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 122. . The reason for this movement towards cold breakfast cereals was inspired by the
Jacksonian-era Clean Living Movement (1830–1860). This movement focused on a lot of lifestyle changes, but specific to breakfast it claimed that eating bacon, eggs, pancakes and hot coffee was too indulgent. The first prepared cold breakfast cereal marketed to American consumers was created by
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who introduced it in 1878 and named it
granola.
[Sivulka 2011]
pp. 87–90
The product was prepared with baked wheat, oatmeal and cornmeal, and was the first brand-name breakfast cereal in the United States.
Canned
fruit juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...
became prominent as a breakfast beverage after the discovery of
vitamins. C. 1900, orange juice as a breakfast beverage was a new concept.
The development of frozen
orange juice concentrate began in 1915, and in the 1930s it was produced by several companies. Additionally,
mass-produced tomato juice began to be marketed in the mid-1920s, and became a popular breakfast drink a few years thereafter.
Effect on health
While breakfast is commonly referred to as "the most important meal of the day",
some contest the positive implications of its "most important" status.
Scientific findings
Some
epidemiological research indicates that having breakfast high in rapidly available
carbohydrates
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or may ...
increases the risk of
metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Metabolic syndrome ...
.
Memory was found to be adversely affected in subjects of a study who had not eaten their breakfast (q.v. also ''Studies using mice'' under this heading). Intelligence was not affected. Children aged within 8 and 11 years were found to have differing brainwave;
EEG activity states, causative to breakfast consumption. Non-breakfasting children were observed to have higher activity of upper and lower
theta wave,
alpha wave, and
delta wave, which indicated a causative relationship of breakfast consumption to memory function in the subjects.
A review of 47 studies associating breakfast to (i) nutrition, (ii) body weight and (iii) academic performance found amongst those who had eaten breakfast: (i) better nutrition profiles, many studies found less weight (ii) irrespective of greater calorific consumption per day, although a number didn't find this correlation, (iii) studies suggested a possible link to better academic performance in the breakfast eating groups (q.v. Benton and Parker 1998, under this heading).
The influence of breakfast on managing body weight is unclear.
Study using mice
The expression of
hippocampal genes that mediate the function or non function of memory was affected to the detriment in mouse subjects not having consumed breakfast for a consistent time.
Healthy choice
Present professional opinion is largely in favor of eating breakfast,
[ but skipping breakfast might be better than eating unhealthy foods.]
Gallery
File:2015 0420 Boterham preskop.jpg, Head cheese with bread
File:-2019-07-30 Streaky bacon, fried egg on toast, Cromer (1).JPG, Bacon and eggs on toast
File:Koh Mak, Thailand, Tropical breakfast, Fruit salad.jpg, Tropical style breakfast, Thailand
File:Nasi lemak basic.jpg, ''Nasi lemak
''Nasi lemak'' is a dish originating in Malay cuisine that consists of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. It is commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish. It is also the native dish in neighbouri ...
'', the national breakfast dish of Malaysia and Singapore
File:Veritaffle.jpg, A breakfast consisting of a novelty-stamped waffle, cantaloupe melon slices, grapes, and butter
File:JfFlowers9895AllSaintsDayfvf 20.JPG, Pancake
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...
s topped with butter and honey
File:Farsaan Food.jpg, Dhokla
File:Idly Wada.jpg, Idli served with coconut chutney, sambar and medu vada on banana leaf, popular in South India
File:Poori wih accompaniments.jpg, Indian poori
Puri (sometimes spelled as poori) is a deep-fried bread made from unleavened whole-wheat flour that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack or light meal. It is usually served with a savory curry or ''bha ...
with accompaniments
File:Breakfast of Champions.jpg, Cornflakes with milk breakfast
File:Salad with bryndza.jpg, Salad breakfast
File:Congee with Youtiao.jpg, Chinese conjee
Congee or conjee ( ) is a type of rice porridge or gruel eaten in Asian countries. It can be eaten plain, where it is typically served with side dishes, or it can be served with ingredients such as meat, fish, seasonings and flavourings, most ...
with youtiao
File:Early breakfast at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.jpg, A cup of coffee and a chocolate pastry as a quick breakfast
See also
* Breakfast by country
Breakfast, the first meal of the day eaten after waking from the night's sleep, varies in composition and tradition across the world.
Africa
Breakfast in Africa varies greatly from region to region.
Algeria
Breakfast in Algeria is heavily influen ...
* Breakfast television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a l ...
* Brunch
* Food history
* Index of breakfast-related articles
* Instant breakfast
* List of breakfast beverages
* List of breakfast foods
* List of food and beverage museums
* Midnight breakfast
* Timeline of food
Prehistoric times
* 2.5-1.8 million years ago: The discovery of the use of fire and the sharing of the benefits of the use of fire may have created a sense of sharing as a group. Earliest estimate for invention of cooking, by phylogenetic analy ...
* Wedding breakfast
References
Bibliography
*
* Goodhugh, William; Cooke Taylor, William (editors) (1843)
''The Bible cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the civil and natural history of the sacred writings''
Oxford University.
* Sivulka, Juliann (2011)
''Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising''
Cengage Learning.
Further reading
*
* History of breakfast
*
''Breakfast: A History''
*
''The English Breakfast: The Biography of a National Meal, with Recipes''
*
''Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine''
*
''Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History''
*
''Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People''
*
''Ency Kitchen History''
(scroll down in preview)
*
''A History of Food''
*
''Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History''
*
''Internal Cleansing, Revised 2nd Edition''
*
''Corn Meal for Breakfast, Dinner, Supper''
** Albala, Ken (2008)
''Pancake: A Global History''
Reaktion Books.
* History of breakfast cereal
''Handbook of Cereal Science and Technology''
*
''Chemistry and Technology of Cereals as Food and Feed''
*
''An Uncommon History of Common Things''
*
''An Irresistible History of Southern Food: Four Centuries of Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, and Whole Hog Barbecue''
*
''Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia, Volume 1''
* Other sources
*
''Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living''
.
**
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