A Few Words About Breakfast, That Thing Before Lunch

Eggs may be just fine unless they’re really not, authorities report

By Ed Goldman

Everyone—from pasty-complected nutritionists to sugar-hating grade-school teachers, from Tang-fueled astronauts to couldn’t-find-another-job life coaches and, of course, zero-nutritive-value cereal manufacturers—have told us for years that the best way to brace for a busy day or accomplishment-heavy life is to start our mornings with a hearty breakfast.

But just what constitutes that hearty breakfast has become a source of debate, especially among the segments cited above.

One of the most economical, protein-rich meals with which to begin, center or end one’s day, for decades they were blamed for rising bad-cholesterol scores among American consumers and bad-test scores among promotion-eyeing school administrators. (“Omelets are destroying our kids’ grip on trigonometry,” I believe a keynote speaker said at a school officials retreat, How to Make Each Day a Whine/Whine.)

According to a recent article by Anthony Komaroff, a medical doctor, writing in Harvard Health, “From what we know today, here’s the bottom line: for most people, an egg a day does not increase your risk of a heart attack, a stroke, or any other type of cardiovascular disease. No more than three eggs per week is wise if you have diabetes, are at high risk for heart disease from other causes (such as smoking), or already have heart disease.”

These are the types of real-world questions many of us have— especially if, like me, you skipped breakfast today because you thought your friend was treating you to a big lunch to thank you for a stock tip that turned out to be correct, which was to buy bonds instead.