You have probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. One out of four women age 25 to 34 regularly skip breakfast. People who skip breakfast often think that by not eating breakfast they are decreasing how much they eat in a day. One trial in healthy college students found that skipping breakfast caused them to eat 150 more calories at lunch, but stopped then from eating an average of 600 calories at breakfast, so they ate 450 calories less during the day when they skipped breakfast. Other trials find that people who skip breakfast tend to make up for it by eating more food later in the day. In general, skipping breakfast leads to more irregular snacking and to a poorer quality diet, especially in adult women.
A trial in obese women found that those who usually skipped breakfast, but ate it as part of their diet, lost more weight than those who continued to skip breakfast. But the women who usually ate breakfast, but skipped it as part of their diet, also lost more weight than those who continued to eat breakfast. The authors of the 12 week trial concluded that the people who had to make the largest change in their eating habits are the ones that lost the most weight in the short term, regardless of if they ate or skipped breakfast.
Some evidence suggests that thin people eat more calories earlier in the day, while overweight people are more likely to consume most of their daily calories after 6 or 7 PM. We really don’t know how much this contributes to obesity, if at all.
The conclusion: It is up to you if you choose to eat or skip breakfast. But be sure that skipping breakfast does not cause you to snack at irregular times throughout the morning before you eat a real meal.
A trial in obese women found that those who usually skipped breakfast, but ate it as part of their diet, lost more weight than those who continued to skip breakfast. But the women who usually ate breakfast, but skipped it as part of their diet, also lost more weight than those who continued to eat breakfast. The authors of the 12 week trial concluded that the people who had to make the largest change in their eating habits are the ones that lost the most weight in the short term, regardless of if they ate or skipped breakfast.
Some evidence suggests that thin people eat more calories earlier in the day, while overweight people are more likely to consume most of their daily calories after 6 or 7 PM. We really don’t know how much this contributes to obesity, if at all.
The conclusion: It is up to you if you choose to eat or skip breakfast. But be sure that skipping breakfast does not cause you to snack at irregular times throughout the morning before you eat a real meal.
