What are we risking at skip breakfast and go to work hungry? The eternal debate on the importance of the first meal of the day has been relaunched with two new studies, one American and one British. So much so that we no longer know what to think: should we take our bowl of muesli in the morning even if we are not hungry? According to these latest studies, skipping the morning meal would not be serious and even less dangerous for health.
Without fear of going against the grain of the advocates of balanced breakfasts, this new work asserts that the only obvious benefit of eating in the morning is having fuel to be more active during the day.
To make this observation, researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, United States, verified the commonly accepted idea that skipping breakfast can make you fat. They asked 300 volunteers to split into two groups, one having breakfast and the other not. At the end of 16 weeks, no difference in weight development was observed between the two groups.
Skipping breakfast, a lesser evil?
The second study, from the University of Bath, Great Britain, also puts into perspective the importance of having a hot drink, cereals, fruit and a dairy product in the morning. This time only 33 people participated in the experience of either having breakfast or not having it. Verdict: no difference in cholesterol level, blood sugar level and weight change. The only observation is that the breakfast group was more active during the day.
These two new studies contradict the body of research that has established a link between not having breakfast and the risk of weight gain, the risk of diabetes or the risk of heart attack. Who to believe? One thing is certain: breakfast should be part of a balanced diet.