Articles

Breakfast earned the title ‘most important meal of the day’ through business strategies by breakfast manufacturers. Breakfast is important as it has various health benefits, but we cannot call it the most important as each meal is equally important. An ideal breakfast should have items from all the food groups to ensure food variety. Some researchers think that the benefits associated with breakfast are due to a healthy lifestyle, not particularly on consuming breakfast alone. But skipping breakfast is noted to cause a lack of energy due to low glucose in the body, hormonal disruption, insulin resistance and heart disease. In the Bath Breakfast Project, a detailed report was made with major findings including that body mass index (BMI) remained unaltered in both the feeding and fasting groups in lean and obese individuals. Breakfast balances the blood sugar levels of later meals. If breakfast is skipped, the person can compensate for the missing calories in later meals such that the overall energy intake is slightly lower or unaltered. No evidence is found that could support the long-standing public opinion that breakfast skipping aids in weight loss because people may adjust their physical activity. Resting metabolic rate remain unaltered in both groups. No difference is seen in total energy expenditure (TEE) in both groups within 24 hours showing that diet-induced thermogenesis is slightly modified by morning eating. Long-term interventions are required to fully understand their effects. Breakfast consumers have higher levels of physical activity thermogenesis. After a mixed-macronutrient breakfast, carbohydrate oxidation increases while suppressing fat oxidation during exercise. Chronic morning fasting does not negatively affect health markers except by lowering glucose tolerance.