To have breakfast or not to have breakfast? Which is better for weight loss?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be skipped. This is a statement we have been familiar with since childhood. Most athletes honestly set aside a little extra time each morning to eat in peace. It doesn't matter if one prefers a sweet or savoury breakfast. The main thing is that it is hearty and provides the body with energy for the whole morning. In today's article, however, we will take a slightly controversial route and challenge this universally accepted truth. We'll look at a few studies that have looked at this topic and try to find evidence that confirms or refutes the positives of breakfast. Although it may seem that the answer to the question of whether breakfast is good for our bodiesfor our bodies, it's actually a little more complicated than that.

Is breakfast really the foundation of the day?

Before we get into breaking down the dogma about breakfast, let's first summarise what is actually said about the "most important meal of the day". There are some very compelling reasons why we should never forget breakfast. One of them is the claim that eating breakfast in the morning jump-starts the metabolism and thus prepares the body for the day. A hearty breakfast will ensure that the body has enough energy and that we are not too hungry during the day. Most importantly, people who eat breakfast in the morninglose weight much more easily, while those who don't eat breakfast gain weight very quickly. The importance of breakfast is underlined in every diet book you can find on the internet. You would be hard pressed to find a nutritionist who would recommend not eating in the morning and saving your first meal for lunch. If everyone is saying the same thing, what's the problem? Why should I even begin to question it?

Non-existent studies

It doesn't matter if a person is a triathlete, bodybuilder, strongman, crossfitter, or just a regular hobbyist who comes to work out once a week. Everyone bases their training on some science-based facts. We use the findings from the latest studies to best understand our bodies and to train as effectively as possible. Of course, this also applies to diet. But are there any studies that clearly confirm all the supposed benefits that breakfast is supposed to have for the body? The answer is quite surprising. There aren't. At least not in sufficient quantity and quality. All claims about breakfast being an indispensable part of the diet are based on personal experience and individual observation. Although personal experience is one of the best sources of information, it can be quite misleading in some cases. We'll get to that in a moment. But for now, let's finally look at what real studies say about the benefits of breakfast.

Experts come up with surprising results

To find out what's really going on with breakfast, we need to stop relying solely on our personal experiences and look at randomised controlled trials. In such studies, a large sample of test subjects are randomly divided into two groups. In our case, half of the subjects eat breakfast regularly, while the other half of the group does not. Studies that have been conducted in this way have examined, first, the amount of calories consumed during the day and, second, differences in the weight of the test subjects. The result? You wouldn't know the difference between the groups. The 2014 and 2017 studies together included 358 people from different age groups and concludedthat missing breakfast made no significant difference in terms of weight gain or weight loss.

Another study found almost no difference in the amount ofof calories consumed between groups of people who ate breakfast and those who skipped breakfast. There is also a meta-analysis including a total of 13 similar studies that came up with identical results. It should be noted that there is no study that has looked at the topic over a period of several years. Such results would, of course, carry much more weight. Yet all scientific investigations deny something that is ingrained in us from birth. So how is it possible that the myth of the importance of breakfast came about in the first place? The answer is actually quite logical.

Breakfast really is linked to a healthy lifestyle

Although the scientific evidence is quite clear that breakfast on ourour health, we can't turn a blind eye to a very clear fact. Healthy people and especially athletes eat breakfast regularly. And that is why we can easily get the impression that breakfast is the reason for their success. It has even been scientifically proven that people who indulge in breakfast regularly live a much healthier lifestyle overall. They exercise more, eat healthier, smoke less and drink less alcohol. Breakfast resisters, on the other hand, have a significantly worse lifestyle. When simply comparing the two groups, the difference in their health is noticeable at a glance. But at this point, we need to distinguish the difference between correlation and causation and not attribute all differences to one factor, in this particular case breakfast.

It's all very individual

The researchers involved in the aforementioned studies noticed a few interesting things. People who were used to eating breakfast for years had big problems when they stopped eating breakfast. They experienced higher insulin levels and generally felt out of energy. People with diabetes also experienced problems with their insulin levels. Skipping breakfast made them less sensitive to insulin, which led to other health problems. Closely related to insulin is the body's circadian rhythm, which affects sleep and other important body processes.The disruption of the circadian rhythm due to fluctuating insulin levels is definitely not beneficial to the body. Everyone has a routine, and suddenly changing it can have unexpected consequences. As always, the rule is that each of us is different and therefore we need to treat each person individually.

To have breakfast or not to have breakfast?

Finally, of course, the obvious question must be answered. But if you are expecting me to come up with an uncompromising statement condemning breakfast for good, you are sadly mistaken. In fact, breakfast is not as special as it first appears. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you eat it right after you wake up, or sometime during the morning, or as late as noon. While the aforementioned studies haven't proven that breakfast has any positive effect on our health, they haven't proven that it does any harm either.It is therefore up to you what you prefer. I personally, for example, cannot imagine leaving the house in the morning without having breakfast. On the other hand, I understand that eating something right after waking up is completely unrealistic for a lot of people.

Whatever your opinion on breakfast, remember one thing. If you're eating a healthy and balanced diet, the timing of each meal is just a detail that won't make much difference on its own. What matters is the composition of the meals themselves. That's why breakfast should be healthy, otherwise you canthe most important meal of the day can turn into the most harmful.

Tips for a healthy breakfast

If you're one of those people who can't get enough of breakfast, we've got some tips for you. A good breakfast should contain plenty of fibre, vitamins, protein and, last but not least, complex carbohydrates. Fans of a sweet breakfast will enjoy a protein muffin or a delicious pumpkin bread. Those who prefer a savoury breakfast can get inspiration from our list of cheap protein sources, for example. The most important thing of all is to enjoy your breakfast in peace. To avoid unnecessary stress, take a moment to sit down and you'll find you'll enjoy it a lot more. Those few minutes in bed wouldn't have helped anyway.

That's all for today on the importance of breakfast. How are you on breakfast? Do you like it, or do you prefer to eat later? You can share your opinion in the comments and you can also write your favouritebreakfast recipe or what you'd like to read about next time.