Does an English breakfast make men more attractive?

Does an English breakfast make men more attractive?

You may have heard this claim, perhaps even while enjoying some bacon and eggs or with concern over a croissant, and it comes from some research carried out by academics at the University of Montpellier.

Yes - that is the French - talking about an English Breakfast. Or is it?

Mais non.

The research published in Plos One looked at the impact on facial attractiveness of eating refined carbohydrates compared to eating unrefined carbohydrates - so “bad carbs” like white bread and processed cereal against “good carbs” like wholewheat bread and bran cereal.

They found when showing photos of around 100 men and women after eating the different breakfasts to people, there was an impact on their attractiveness, which shifted slightly depending on what they had just eaten.

Think of this as getting a better “after-glow” with the healthier, unrefined option. And that’s thanks to changes in blood sugar and insulin.

So what about the differences between men and women?

It seems that there was a greater impact for men. In some quarters there was then the interpretation that a plate full of classic English breakfast ingredients - as long as you ditch the white toast - mostly doesn't contain the “bad carbs” that could make faces less attractive.

Hence the idea of the meaty English breakfast being an attractive, masculine choice.

For women there wasn’t such an impact on the attractiveness of our faces from such a feast.

The situation gets more ugly though should women go for broke and just choose the bad carbs anyway, including such pleasantries as a croissant. Items like that particularly culinary classic could even brand women unattractive.

Zut alors!

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…