Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. A brain
Speaker 1: stuff is Christian Sager here. A second breakfast has never
Speaker 1: been just a Middle Earth popbit tradition. Europeans have long
Speaker 1: enjoyed eating another morning meal. School Children in Germany get
Speaker 1: a mid morning break around nine thirty a m where
Speaker 1: they eat a second breakfast, which studies show benefits their health.
Speaker 1: German adults also eat second breakfast, a small meal of
Speaker 1: poached sausages with mustard and pretzels, and sometimes beer, according
Speaker 1: to German born chef Michael Kufner of the bright Water
Speaker 1: Center for the Study of Food, but now Americans are
Speaker 1: picking up on it too, and depending on lifestyle, a
Speaker 1: second breakfast can be just as beneficial as a first.
Speaker 1: Exactly what a second breakfast is, though, in America, depends
Speaker 1: on who is eating it and why. Athletes who need
Speaker 1: fuel to power hours of practice eat law arged meals
Speaker 1: with specific ratios of carbs, fat, and protein. For the
Speaker 1: average exerciser, a light breakfast might be plenty to sustain
Speaker 1: a workout, especially when followed later in the morning by
Speaker 1: a more substantial breakfast. For Americans with hectic mornings that
Speaker 1: involve dropping kids off and rushing to work. Go to
Speaker 1: options for first and second breakfast include handheld microwavable foods
Speaker 1: such as burritos, sandwiches, and oatmeal or snack bars, yogurt
Speaker 1: and yogurt based drinks, or cereal. While brunch is typically
Speaker 1: just a late breakfast and usually a leisurely sit down affair,
Speaker 1: a second breakfast for most Americans is a chance to
Speaker 1: fuel up for the day ahead. A second breakfast isn't
Speaker 1: quite a snack either, or at least what was once
Speaker 1: thought of as a snack is now becoming more intentional.
Speaker 1: For athletes, a second breakfast can help power morning training,
Speaker 1: build muscle mass, or provide an opportunity to recover over
Speaker 1: after a hard early workout. Even some athletes are consuming
Speaker 1: upwards of four thousand, five hundred to six thousand calories
Speaker 1: in a day, breaking up high calorie meals is more
Speaker 1: comfortable on the digestive system and easier to consume than
Speaker 1: trying to eat a large number of calories in one sitting.
Speaker 1: According to Stephanie Horvath, the director of Sports Nutrition at
Speaker 1: the University of Tennessee Athletics Department, while most Americans aren't
Speaker 1: doing so much activity to justify eating six thousand calories
Speaker 1: a day. A second breakfast can be helpful for people
Speaker 1: who love to exercise if it's carefully planned. The government's
Speaker 1: recommendation for Americans is close to two thousand calories a day,
Speaker 1: so surprisingly, another crowd that might benefit from a second
Speaker 1: breakfast are people who want to lose weight. Where second
Speaker 1: breakfasts help athletes power through workouts and put on pounds
Speaker 1: of muscle, a second breakfast can help dieters manage hunger.
Speaker 1: This strategy is called front loading calories, the concept of
Speaker 1: eating most of the day's calories by midday. A big
Speaker 1: breakfast and a smaller dinner can help people lose weight
Speaker 1: and manage hunger and blood sugar, according to a study
Speaker 1: published in the journal Obesity Indeed, research shows people who
Speaker 1: eat more during the day lose weight better than those
Speaker 1: who save their calories for later. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by Sean chaivis produced by Tristan McNeil, and For more
Speaker 1: on this and other topics, please visit us at how
Speaker 1: stuff works dot com.