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Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal Of The Day — Or Is It?
HuffPost
Health and nutrition experts debate this age-old question.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, my stomach’s heard it, too. But my stomach doesn’t care, and I’m not alone. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a quarter of Americans skip breakfast.
So what are we doing to ourselves? Well, it depends on who you ask.
A strong case for eating breakfast.
According to Dr. Emily Cooper of Cooper Center for Metabolism, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by skipping breakfast. “When people skip breakfast, a good percent will start disruption in insulin secretion,” Cooper said. In other words, low blood sugar, which can cause fatigue, brain fog and “exaggerated emotional response,” also known as a crappy mood. Having a meltdown? Maybe you just need a smoothie, according to Cooper’s thinking.
People have many reasons for skipping breakfast — they’re rushing to get out the door in the morning, they don’t have reliable food access, or maybe, like me, their circadian rhythm is such that their ghrelin — that’s the hunger hormone — doesn’t kick in till later. Cooper doesn’t care. Skipping breakfast is a dealbreaker for her patients.