20. Will It Matter if I Skip Breakfast?

If you have to miss one meal a day (or if you want to do so), which meal will cause you fewest health problems if you don't eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most people (especially dieters or very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.

However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which "breaks" your "fast" which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day with vigour and hopefully with good humour. Nevertheless, many people skip breakfast or substitute a donut and a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance of breakfast?

One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast completely. Special tests, including blood tests and endurance tests, were set up to analyze how well the participants' bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.

The results showed that if a person eats an adequate breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently and more productively than if he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person's work involves mental activity. The study showed that if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread, and milk before going to school, they will learn more quickly and will be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast diet is inadequate.

The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.