For many years, we have been led to believe that leaving the house without toast or cereal is a sin and makes will set us up for being hungry, cranky and unproductive for the rest of the day. But fresher evidence, suggests this might not be the case. So is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? Well the answer, as always, is “it depends”. Let’s look at some of the things to consider when deciding whether you need to squeeze an early meal in or whether it’s better to leave it out…
Are you hungry?
It seems an obvious question to ask, but actually observing your hunger first thing in the morning is an important starting point. When it comes to improving your relationship with food, and perhaps your overall health, learning to listen and follow your hunger cues is often more important than observing what you should or shouldn’t do when it comes to meal times. Following the first steps of intuitive eating strategies and setting regular meal times can be a good way to kick start these signals and learn to trust them, so if you’re struggling with those cues, then actually setting a regular time for breakfast could be a good start as well.
Are you training?
Interestingly, there is a lot of mixed evidence when it comes to training on breakfast or fasting. If you want the short answer – nothing is clear. If you want the long answer in summary…
- There MAY be some benefit to LOW INTENSITY SHORT PERIODS of exercise for improving fat utilisation, which could be beneficial for long course racing.
- More intense or prolonged exercise is more likely to be impeded by a lack of fuel and therefore trying to have breakfast beforehand is likely to avoid the dreaded mid-training “bonk” and also see better training adaptation and gains from a specific session like this.
- There is some evidence to suggest female athletes generate a higher cortisol response to fasted training and therefore receive fewer benefits from fasted training; women are usually better at fat metabolism than men anyway, so the argument for improving fat utilisation is more limited.
And if you want the REALLY long answer, read this review article of the current literature.
My advice is usually that you need to observe your own response and consider what you’re trying to achieve using the above points as a guide. If you’re really not hungry and it’s anything less than an hour, and you’re not looking to achieve any gains other than some gentle aerobic improvements, then there’s probably little danger in trialling fasted training. However if you’re off to the gym for a couple of hours looking for some explosive strength gains, then some carbs are likely to be your friend, so even glugging a quick fruit smoothie or a slice or two of white toast and honey could be helpful.
What does the rest of your day look like?
If you’re still testing out how you fair with and without breakfast and you’re trialling a few different options, it’s always worth considering what the rest of your day looks like. If you’ve got an easy day with flexibility and free access to the good, whole foods you have at home, then that’s a great time to observe your hunger levels and consider delaying the first meal of the day until you feel hungry, as you won’t be stuck for something nourishing to eat.
If whoever, you’re off in the car for hours on end between endless meetings and good quality food is going to be hard to come by when hunger suddenly strikes, then it might be best to consider making time for a wholesome nutritious breakfast with fibre, protein and fats in the form of fruits and/or veggies, alongside some whole grains and a protein and fat source like greek yoghurt, eggs or nut and seed mixes.
So, is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to skipping breakfast. My advice? Be smart when it comes to eating around training; don’t go into harder, longer or key sessions under-fuelled and observe your responses to exercise and how you feel afterwards if you do or don’t eat. Try things! Try savoury vs sweet breakfasts, carbs vs fats, include proteins and work out what works for you. Stay in touch with hunger but always keep one eye on what’s ahead before you dash out of the door with only a black coffee for company.