Your parents probably told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Their parents probably passed that nugget on to them, and their parents’ parents before them.

In recent years, people have started to challenge this idea, especially with the rise of various fasting trends.

The popular belief, and one that is spread around social media, is that skipping breakfast helps with weight loss.

For the record, at best, that is unproven, and recent studies found no difference between those who skip their morning meal and those who don’t.

So to breakfast, or not to breakfast? Science has finally answered that question.

TIME with this:

A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition sheds some light on what really happens in the body when people skip breakfast on a regular basis.

…They found that people burned more calories over a 24-hour period when they extended their overnight fast by skipping either lunch (41 more calories) or dinner (91 more calories), compared with the three-meals-a-day schedule. These findings are in line with other studies on time-restricted eating.

While they found that some people did experience some weight loss if they skipped breakfast, they also paid a higher price in the long run.

People […] oxidized more fat, meaning their bodies broke down more of their stored fat reserves, on days when they skipped breakfast. That may sound like a good thing, but the researchers say it could have a downside. It suggests an impairment in metabolic flexibility, the body’s ability to switch between burning fat and carbohydrates—which “may in the long term lead to low-grade inflammation and impaired glucose homeostasis,” they wrote.

…The researchers concluded that because chronic inflammation is known to affect insulin sensitivity, skipping breakfast could contribute to “metabolic impairment,” which could potentially raise the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

If you’d like to skip a meal, Courtney Peterson, assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama Birmingham, suggests dinner instead of breakfast.

Calorie burn in this study was greater when skipping dinner compared with skipping breakfast, Peterson says “it might be better for weight loss to skip dinner than to skip breakfast.”

This fits with what’s already known about humans’ circadian clock, she adds: “Your metabolism and blood sugar control are better in the morning than they are in the evening and at night, so it makes sense to eat more food earlier in the day.”

The problem with breakfast is that it happens in the morning when most of us are just trying to make it through that first cup of coffee before (or during) work.

Also, what you have for breakfast makes a massive difference to your health, but the luxury of taking time on meal prep is exactly that.

For those on the go, smoothies are often the best (and easiest way) to break your fast and kickstart your metabolism in the morning.

Liquids like smoothies leave the stomach more quickly, which means they get energy to the rest of your body faster.

Sir Fruit offers a range of delicious smoothies that’ll eliminate the admin of making a brekkie before you’ve had your daily caffeine.

The Pineapple, Coconut, Banana, Yoghurt and Oats smoothie gives you all the benefits of a bowl of oats and fruit without the hassle.

Then there’s the Rasberry, Beetroot, Strawberry, Yoghurt and Oats smoothie, complete with chia seeds if that’s your thing.

They’re perfect for when you’re in a rush and don’t have time to guzzle a balanced brekkie, because they’re designed to tick all the boxes and see you through to lunch.

Good to know, because, as it turns out, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, but it doesn’t have to be the most labour intensive.

Head on over to Sir Fruit to stock up and kick your health game up a notch.

[source:time]