Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

A good breakfast has long been seen as the all-important determinant of health. Breaking fast after sleep should surely mean loading up on healthy foods and starting the day on the right foot, right?

But the literature on the first meal of the day is outdated, and popular mantras like Adelle Davis’ advice to “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” have remained uncontested in the collective consciousness decades after they were first passed.

Here, we try to debunk the myths, separate fact from fiction, and offer a more holistic view of what it means to get that first meal of the day out of the way.

The metabolism question

The old saying that breakfast kickstarts your metabolism is true – in theory.

As The Independent points out: “Eating sets a variety of biological processes associated with digesting and storing food into action, which result in increased energy expenditure known as diet induced thermogenesis (DIT).”

In short, DIT helps get rid of the food we’ve eaten, and it’s also true that the DIT process is more efficient when we first wake up – but not by much.

At best, DIT only ever accounts for 15% of the food we eat, so it’s no good loading up your plate just because it’s 8AM.

Skipping breakfast isn’t the reason you put on weight

Does skipping breakfast make you put on weight? On its own, absolutely not.

The reason certain breakfast-skippers tend to pile on the weight is simple. By missing that first meal, we tend to lean towards excess calories at lunch and supper. In turn, the extra calories start adding inches to our waistline.

However, skipping breakfast and exercising has been shown to burn serious fat. According to the Express, when “you exercise in the morning, while still in [a] fasting state, you rev up your body’s engine.” This means you’re burning through glycogen (produced by last night’s supper) and fat, and will continue to enter a fat-burning state until you eat again.

An extended fast paired with a cardio workout has been known to burn fat fast.

Most breakfast foods should be avoided

Many of the notions we hold about breakfast are peddled by cereal companies looking to line your table with their sugary treats.

One thing is for sure: you should steer well clear. Be it cereal, yoghurt and the like, always check the sugar content before you take it to the till. A dose of sugar to the brain first thing in the morning is a surefire way to keep you craving it throughout the day.

In the end, breakfast is no more important than lunch and supper, but thanks to its place in society, so-called healthy breakfasts very often escape scrutiny. If you’re in the mood for a big meal at the beginning of the day, enjoy yourself – just remember that the mythical benefits of breakfast are very often just that: myths.