Breakfast: Is it really the most important meal of the day?

Nutrition experts discuss the benefits of breakfast, explaining that while it can be full of nutrients, the jury’s out on if it aids weight control.

We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – but is it really?

Eating a good breakfast, we are often told, boosts your brain power – and a 2016 US review of 54 studies indeed found that eating breakfast has a “small but robust advantage for memory”.

But the effects on other brain functions, including your ability to pay attention, were found to be “largely equivocal” in that review and further research was said to be needed.

But what we do know for sure is that we all need nutrients to keep us healthy, and breakfast is a great way to get goodness inside you.

A new study by Whole Earth (wholeearthfoods. com) found a third of adults have one of their five-a-day every day for breakfast, and nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed says: “Starting the day with a varied breakfast can help ensure you kick off your morning with a good dose of the energy and nutrients you need throughout the day.

“Additionally – depending on what breakfast you choose – you can also use breakfast to tick off some of those all-important food groups you need every day, such as wholegrains, proteins, fruit and veg and dairy or alternatives.”

Helena Gibson-Moore, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation (nutrition.org.uk), adds: “The first meal of the day is a good opportunity to get essential nutrients needed for good health.

“For example, in the UK on average we don’t eat enough fibre and so popular choices like toast from wholegrain breads with nut butter or baked beans, wholegrain breakfast cereals and fruit, can help us increase our fibre intake.”