One of the most cited reasons for eating breakfast is that it kick starts your metabolism…. well guys, I’m sorry to say that’s a myth.
A couple of big studies in the last couple of years led by Bath Uni (called the Bath Breakfast Project) found that there was no change in metabolic rate between when people ate breakfast, or skipped breakfast. And this was true in both lean and overweight adults. In fact, the mean difference in metabolic rate between breakfast eating and skipping was just 11 calories.
What the research did show was that when people ate breakfast, they were more active – burning around 400 extra calories through the day. This also seemed to have a knock on effect with better blood sugar control in the evening.
Yes it’s true that breakfast eaters tend to be slimmer, but this is probably down to breakfast being a marker of other healthy habits (like being more active, or encouraging you to eat more fruit) – and that’s a good thing.
Equally if you can’t face breakfast and prefer to eat something mid-morning, that’s ok too. Just give yourself the best chance of making a healthy choice by packing something to take to work.