You've heard it for years: "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." For decades, breakfast has been presented as the keystone in daily activity, cognitive function, energy and overall health. Your parents probably insisted you eat something before heading off to school. Commercials implore kids and adults to chow down for better grades and more pep through the day.
But dietician and psychologist Hollie Raynor says the claims about breakfast's benefits aren't rock-solid.
"The data are not consistent," Raynor told HealthConnections hosts Carole Myers and Brandon Hollingsworth. "We don't have the evidence to say breakfast has to be eaten."
Studies that have looked at breakfast and health have generally focused on specific questions or examined specific groups, Raynor says. Their results are not enough to make blanket conclusions about the value of breakfast, or even what an "ideal" breakfast looks like.
In this edition of HealthConnections, a discussion about what we know and don't know about breakfast and your health.