Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?
I think it’s a bit of a myth and people need to think about the bigger picture, every meal or snack is an opportunity to put something good into your body, rather than thinking what we can skip or cut out.
As a nutritionist, breakfast can sometimes be the trickiest meal for people to get right, if you go into supermarket and try to hunt out a breakfast option – there are loads of packaged cereals, granola, breads, that are just processed rubbish, often very carb and sugar heavy, so we need to take it back to basics and try and think about including more wholefoods, and sometimes option for more savour options can help.
Think eggs, avocados, vegetables, nuts, seeds, but butters Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, healthy fats, fats, fruits are good, breads if they are say good quality sourdough options with minimal ingredients and additives. And variety is also key – trying to pick different fresh food each week which translates into more diverse gut bacteria.
In terms of this idea that ‘breakfast breaks the fast’ this is true, but actually, this 'fast' is important for healthy metabolism and giving your gut a break. For some, extending the fast slightly by avoiding food in the evening after dinner, is a nice way to ensure the fast is along enough, without going to any extremes (this suits the majority of people).
Then, look at the overall picture as sometimes even nutrition studies can be misleading. If you skip breakfast, do you end up eating more or poorer choices later in the day? But ultimately, there are so many more factors when it comes to the breakfast meal itself, plus it's wider influence on your makeup for the day – so it can be hard just to control for one tiny factor.
My advice is to start the day with some water (and continue this throughout the day), eat a wholefood breakfast and try and continue healthy habits for the majority of the day - since good health also goes beyond breakfast. :)
