Breakfast Is Not The Most Important Meal

The misconception that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is a myth, such as “never swim after eating” or “getting wet will give you a cold”.

A new study in 38 lean people suggested that six weeks of regularly eating breakfast had no effect on metabolism or eating patterns for the rest of the day, compared to not having a meal until midday.

It also found no difference between the groups at the end of the study in body mass, fat mass, or indicators of cardiovascular health (cholesterol or inflammatory markers).

There are many important disadvantages to this trial, such as the short follow-up time. For example, people who fasted had much more variable blood sugar levels in the afternoon and evening, and we do not know what the longer-term effects of this could be.

Overall, we would not recommend completely starving your body of all nutrition before 12pm each day, because not having some food in the morning may not make you feel very energetic, if nothing else.