Breakfast No Longer the Most Important Meal of the Day

A trio of new studies contradicts some long-held wisdom about what it means to start the day off right. Everything from popular weight loss regimes to federal “head start” programs, which offer free breakfast to some students, have held that breakfast is a meal apart. But if you’re an adult and you don’t feel like eating breakfast, there appear to be no adverse consequence in terms of body weight. A study completed at Cornell University found that adults who don’t eat breakfast tend not to overcompensate by eating larger or unhealthier meals during the day. In fact, they consumed fewer calories per day than those who diligently ate breakfast.

Another study published in Circulation found that eating breakfast was associated with lower rates of heart disease, but not all breakfasts are created equal, and receiving health benefits has a lot to do with what kind of breakfast you prepare. If a cereal is high in fiber and low in sugar, simply eating it with milk may constitute a healthy breakfast. Sugary cereals, on the other hand, are more likely to contribute to weight gain and other adverse health effects.

Nutritionists say the best advice is to eat a healthy diet and listen to the needs of your body.

In his Big Think interview, Dr. Steven Masley discusses what it takes to have a healthy diet. Masley agrees that adding fiber is the single most important change someone can make to their daily food regimen, but that doesn’t mean just cereal…