Contrary to what you may have been told your whole entire life the answer may not be as straight forward as you think. Despite the mountain of research that there is on this
Confused Science
What research does seem to tell us is that not eating breakfast is correlated with obesity. The important word here is correlated, research does not tell us that not eating breakfast causes weight gain, but there is a correlation. But this could be for many reasons, it could also correlate with people not being interested in their health or people who have overeaten the night before not having a desire for breakfast.
So why do so many of us believe in the saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? It’s been repeated so much that it has become a truth without any substantial evidence to prove a direct relationship. We live in a society that as soon as you whip out the phrase ‘science says’ most people take it as true, add in a link and that enhances the credibility, but very few people will ever check to see what that study actually says and in the case of breakfast the research is far from conclusive. If this leaves you frustrated you are not alone, we all want black and white answers but in the world of nutrition science, they don’t always exist.
To flip the coin we could look at the topic of intermittent fasting, but it’s such a huge topic I think I will leave that to another blog post, but it can’t be ignored that many people that use IF to their advantage do so by skipping breakfast.
To eat breakfast or not to eat breakfast?
The critical thing to consider here is that you are unique. It may take some experimentation and some mindfulness to get the perfect solution for you. For some breakfast is going to be crucial to keep control of balanced nutrition throughout the day. Getting breakfast right with a good amount of protein, fat, and carbs could make lunch less of an emergency and lead to a more balanced meal plan for the rest of the day. For others skipping breakfast won’t lead to overeating later in the day and could actually lead to the calorie deficit that if they are trying to lose weight is just what is necessary. The only thing that really matters in terms of evidence is what your body is actually telling you. Pay attention to your body’s response, this could be its immediate cues, like hunger or evidence from later in the day for example panic eating or overeating at dinner. I’ve had clients who have fallen into both the breakfast eating camp and the non-breakfast eating camp and both have been very successful with their weight loss goals.
If you want help figuring out what is right for your individual needs, then please reach out and drop me an email to see how I can help you. Alternatively, subscribe to my email list below to be the first to hear about my next freebie or course launch.