The cliché that breakfast is the most important meal of the day has been a very controversial topic for many years. Many people nowadays think it’s just something mothers tell their children to get them to eat their breakfast. But new research is beginning to reveal the truth. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day.

One of the main reasons breakfast should be considered the most important meal of the day is because you put your health at risk more than when you skip other meals. According to Jessica Brown, the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health says skipping breakfast is associated with a 27% increased risk of heart disease and a 20% increased risk of type 2 diabetes. This is because the majority of “breakfast foods” are high in nutrients and vitamins, such as healthy cereals and eggs. Missing out on those nutrients can be detrimental to one’s health. According to Charles Spence, the head of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory, a part of the Experimental Psychology department, up to 25% of our daily energy intake comes from breakfast, so skipping it could also affect one’s brain and body functions negatively. According to Spence, a study in Finland showed that eggs, a popular breakfast food, can enhance the cognitive ability of middle aged men. By skipping breakfast, one can seriously hurt their mental and physical state from lack of nutrients.

But new research shows that there is more to eating the right things for breakfast that make it so important. According to the Advantist Health Study 2, those who eat their largest meal before noon have a lower BMI than those who eat their largest meal in the evening. According to Roni Caryn Rabin of the New York Times, the largest meal being in the morning helps weight control because the digestive process and the action of insulin are at their peak after we wake up. Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, performed an experiment in which dozens of obese women eat 700 calories in the morning, 500 calories at lunch, and 200 calories at dinner. She had another group of the same amount of obese women eat the opposite. Both groups lost weight, but the first group lost 2.5 times the weight that the second group lost. By making breakfast the largest meal, one can lose lots of weight and keep a healthier lifestyle.

Today’s research proves that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That doesn’t mean eating a donut and milkshake for breakfast though. Eating a healthy breakfast and eating a large breakfast are the keys to a healthier lifestyle. 

Sources:

• Brown, Jessica. “Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?” BBC Future, 28 Nov. 2018.
• Rabin, Roni Caryn. “The Case for a Breakfast Feast.” The New York Times, 21 Aug. 2017.
• Spence, Charles. “Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day?” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 31 Jan. 2017.