Breakfast: Five Myths About the Day’s Most Important Meal (2024)

FAQs

What are some facts that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? ›

Breakfast is often called 'the most important meal of the day', and for good reason. As the name suggests, breakfast breaks the overnight fasting period. It replenishes your supply of glucose to boost your energy levels and alertness, while also providing other essential nutrients required for good health.

Breakfast is essential for maintaining the body's circadian rhythm and providing a much-needed dose of nutrients and energy after 8-10 hours of fasting. However, the belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is a myth.

Breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day, but should it be? For some, skipping breakfast can be detrimental to their day — especially for kids — but others may feel better fasting until lunch. Experts agree that while breakfast provides benefits, one meal isn't more important than the other.

The idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day can be traced back to the late 19th century. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a physician and nutritionist, believed that eating a healthy breakfast was essential for good health.

A healthy breakfast refuels the body and replenishes the blood sugar (glucose), giving the energy necessary to start a new day. It is proven that breakfast is good for both physical and mental health. Eating breakfast is important for all ages, especially for children and adolescents.

The idea of breakfast being the most important meal of the day came from the 1917 issue of one of the oldest health magazines named Good Health magazine. But that claim was never backed by any scientific evidence.

Those are just a few reasons why it's the most important meal of the day. Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of getting diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.

As it turns out, the line “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” was nothing more than a marketing slogan coined in the 19th century by James Caleb Jackson and John Harvey Kellogg, to sell their newly invented breakfast cereal.

Researchers say making breakfast your biggest meal of the day is a good way to lose weight… if you don't overdo it at lunch and dinner. Mom was right. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

Even if you can't eat an early dinner, you should try to make breakfast and lunch your biggest meals of the day and dinner your smallest. If you're used to eating a small lunch and a big dinner, then switch the order. You can make your dinner a meal that's heavy on vegetables to lighten it up.

Why breakfast is the least important meal of the day? ›

Overall evidence suggests that omitting breakfast affects some components of energy balance. There is no evidence to suggest that breakfast consumption affects resting metabolic rate or diet-induced thermogenesis produced from consuming subsequent meals over a day.

Skipping breakfast can slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose or maintain weight. Breakfast helps regulate blood sugar levels, preventing dramatic spikes and crashes that can lead to fatigue, irritability, and cravings for unhealthy snacks later in the day.

Eating regular meals and snacks, including breakfast, allows for more opportunities throughout the day to give the body the energy and nutrients it needs to function optimally. However, as long as a person can fit their nutrients in during other meals, breakfast may not be the most critical meal of the day.

Most people would perhaps attribute this to the wisdom and life experience of their grandparents, but this saying is actually an advertising slogan for Kellogg's breakfast cereal from 1917 [1]. At the same time, intermittent fasting is gaining popularity and is being touted as beneficial to health [2].

These latest studies suggest that eating breakfast may not be as essential as many believe — but they are also unlikely to be the last words on the subject. We need more and better research into how breakfast (and other meals) affect health and disease.

"A nourishing breakfast sets the tone for a productive day." "Mornings are made for slow sips and meaningful bites." "Breakfast is an opportunity to nourish not just the body, but the soul." "Starting the day mindfully with a breakfast that fuels both body and mind."