Is breakfast important for weight loss?

Breakfast and weight loss: One of the most confusing topics in nutrition science

Research results on weight management and breakfast habits are not very consistent and many breakfast skippers who are trying to lose weight are worried they have to start eating breakfast to achieve better results. On the other hand, skipping breakfast for intermittent fasting is becoming more and popular in the fitness industry.

Three years ago, my master’s thesis was about the effects of breakfast consumption on enegy intake and physical activity levels, so checking more recent articles has been really exciting for me as well!

Disclaimer: This article is not about telling you to have or not to have breakfast. It is about presenting both sides of the “argument” to help you make an informed choice! Consulting with a healthcare professional is always the wisest option, especially if you have specific health issues!

Defining breakfast

One of the reasons research on breakfast consumption is not very consistent, is that even breakfast definitions may differ among studies . According to the etymology of the word, the definition should include every kind of food or drink someone consumes when they wake up to “break the night fast”, as long as it contains any amount of energy coming from macronutrients . Let’s see other definitions used in scientific research:

• The first meal of the day with an energy content higher than 50 kcal. Above this energy limit, the meal causes a detectable change on the energy levels of the body .
• The first meal with an energy content higher than 260 kcal, which is consumed within two hours after the person wakes up from the main sleep of the day (24 hours)  .
• The first meal of the day consumed within 2-3 hours after waking up from the longest period of sleep and includes a food or drink from at least on food group .

Dietary guidelines for breakfast

Having a healthy breakfast is recommended by dietetic associations in numerous European countries, in the United States, Australia and many other countries worldwide. The British Dietetic Association recommends that a healthy breakfast should be :

• High in fibre.
• Low in added sugars and sugary drinks (like smoothies and fruit juices)
• a source of your 5 a day
• Include a protein source (eg. eggs, low fat cheese)
• Using low fat milk and low fat spreads is also suggested by the British Heart Foundation .

Consuming a healthy breakfast is recommended because it has been associated with health benefits including:

• Lower cardiovascular disease risk
• Lower obesity risk
• Better cognitive performance
• Better diet quality.

Click here for healthy breakfast ideas from the NHS website!

Breakfast consumption and obesity risk

Frequent breakfast consumption has been associated with a lower risk of weight gain in prospective studies . Interestingly, the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the USA showed that:

• Breakfast skippers had the lowest daily energy intake and at the same time the highest body mass index among the categories.
• Those who regularly consumed cereal for breakfast had the lowest body mass index and the higher daily energy intake.

Socioeconomic factors could strongly affect these results though, according to this study and the more recent NHANES study . Breakfast consumption has been significantly associated with higher income and better education.

Meanwhile, it has been repeatedly shown that those who have breakfast regularly also have a significantly better quality of diet ^{, ,} .

• Those who do not have breakfast could consume significantly less fruit and whole grains and snacks/sweets could cover a larger part of their daily energy intake .
• According to the American Heart Association, 74% of breakfast skippers did not meet the two thurds of dietary recommendations for minerals and vitamins .
• Both facts could be associated with an increased risk for many health problems connected to skipping breakfast.

Breakfast, income and obesity risk: How are they connected?

• Higher education could be connected to better nutrition knowledge and better food choices.
• A higher income could provide people with better access to healthier foods.
• Increased obesity risk has been significantly associated with a lower socioeconomic status .

Breakfast skipping could be associated with other lifestyle factors which could lead to a lower diet quality and increased risk of weight gain.

The biology behind breakfast and weight management

It would be possible that hormone action after breakfast consumption helps with filling fuller for longer. However findings are inconsistant. It has been shown that having breakfast could increase PYY levels (a peptide that promotes satiety) throughout the day ^, , but ghrelin levels (the hormone responsible for hunger) still increase after a few hours . That could explain why no significant difference has been noticed regarding total daily energy intake between breakfast skippers and consumers among these studies.

Another possibility is that skipping breakfast could be associated with decreased physical activity in the morning, but research findings are not consistant ^, .

Is breakfast necessary to lose weight?

Although eating a healthy breakfast has been associated with a better quality of diet, suggesting breakfast consumption specifically for weight loss has not resulted to significantly better results . In contrast, a recent meta-analysis of trials on breakfast intake and weight loss has shown that breakfast skippers could lose a bit more weight comparing to breakfast consumers and having breakfast results to higher daily energy intake. It is important to mention though that more research is required, since different methods are used among different trials and making a specific conclusion is not easy .

So what should we keep in mind?

• A healthy breakfast as recommended by dietetic associations could decrease the risk of health issues and increase the quality of our diet.
• If you want to lose weight, you do not have to force yourself to start eating breakfast according to research. Instead, if you want, you could try it and see how it goes! If you notice that having a healthy breakfast makes you more physically active and reduces your cravings for unhealthy high energy snacks, then it could be a positive change to your diet.
• Health is always the priority and every person is different! If you are not sure about having breakfast or not, due to health issues or your lifestyle, please consult with your doctor or registered dietitian!

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