Breakfast is often skipped and forgotten. If you’re running late, have no readily available breakfast options, or just want to squeeze in a few extra minutes of sleep instead of getting up to make food, breakfast seems unnecessary. But skipping out on a healthy breakfast can be detrimental to your health, and the benefits of a morning meal are a key part of living a healthy lifestyle.

Breaking Breakfast Myths

The space between dinner and breakfast is the longest time your body goes without eating. During these hours it goes into a “fasting” mode as you sleep. If you don’t eat breakfast when you wake up, your body goes into a prolonged state of fasting. When you finally eat later in the day, your body, still in this fasting mode, will store your food as fat because it doesn’t know when it will be able to eat again. This will eventually lead to weight gain. And that’s not all that eating or not eating breakfast can affect.

Researchers have discovered skipping breakfast can diminish intelligence levels, as you are essentially running on empty, lacking a “fuel source” and focused on your hunger instead of learning or paying attention. Those who do not eat breakfast or eat an inadequate breakfast are more likely to make unhealthy dietary choices throughout the day. Starting your day with breakfast with leave you sasiated, reducing your desire for snacking on unhealthy foods or binge eating during lunch or dinner.