Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. And while it’s not a good idea to play down any of your daily meals, there could be some truth to it, according to new research.
But the importance of breakfast is tied to how healthy the meal is.
Researchers analyzed data from a national health survey and found that people who ate lower-calorie foods for breakfast tended to have a higher-quality diet overall.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, support previous studies that found people who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight. More specifically, people who reported eating foods low in “energy density” for breakfast, meaning low in calories as compared to the amount of food, were more likely to choose lower-calorie foods for the rest of the day than those who ate more caloric foods.
The findings are based on responses from more than 12,000 U.S. adults who took part in three federal health surveys between 1999 and 2004.