Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal Of The Day — Or Is It?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, my stomach’s heard it, too. But my stomach doesn’t care, and I’m not alone. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a quarter of Americans skip breakfast.

So what are we doing to ourselves? Well, it depends on who you ask.

A strong case for eating breakfast.

According toDr. Emily Cooper of Cooper Center for Metabolism, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by skipping breakfast. “When people skip breakfast, a good percent will start disruption in insulin secretion,” Cooper said. In other words, low blood sugar, which can cause fatigue, brain fog and “exaggerated emotional response,” also known as a crappy mood. Having a meltdown? Maybe you just need a smoothie, according to Cooper’s thinking.

People have many reasons for skipping breakfast — they’re rushing to get out the door in the morning, they don’t have reliable food access , or maybe, like me, their circadian rhythm is such that their ghrelin — that’s the hunger hormone — doesn’t kick in till later. Cooper doesn’t care. Skipping breakfast is a dealbreaker for her patients.

She practices what she preaches. She already had “two pieces of good local bakery sourdough whole grain toast with tahini and apricot jam” and was enjoying a bowl of raisins before 7 a.m. when I spoke to her. That’s complex carbs, protein, iron and healthy fats.

But not every breakfast choice wears that kind of halo. Sugary cereal and processed meats, for example, deliver calories but few nutrients. Even so, Cooper says bad breakfast beats no breakfast.

“If you don’t get enough to eat early in the day, ghrelin levels rise later. Your body is trying to make up for all the stuff you’ve missed,”