We all know the saying: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And that’s partly true. Because while all meals are important – and you should try to eat filling, balanced meals at lunch and dinner, too – you’re quite literally breaking your (overnight) fast with your first meal of the day. That means that breakfast replenishes your glucose levels, provides you with energy, and kick-starts your metabolism for the day.
Apparently, the time you eat breakfast is also important, with some people online claiming that eating breakfast as soon as you wake up can improve your health, speeding up your digestion and your metabolism. So does it really matter what time you eat breakfast?
Can eating breakfast earlier improve your overall health?
There is some research to show that eating breakfast earlier in the morning could be good for your health. In fact, a 2021 study of over 10,000 people concluded that eating breakfast before 10:30 am could reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that participants who ate breakfast early in the morning had lower blood sugar levels, which can improve metabolic health.
Can eating breakfast earlier boost your circadian rhythm?
Whether or not you benefit from eating breakfast early could depend on your circadian rhythm, which is your body’s natural body clock.
‘We think that some people have a circadian rhythm that makes it more beneficial for them to eat early, and those people are likely to feel very hungry when they wake up,’ says Sophie Medlin, director of CityDietitians.
‘And for other people who don’t feel hungry when they wake up, it may be that they don’t need to eat until later on and they should listen to their own body’s hunger cues on that.’
However, the claims that eating breakfast earlier can boost your circadian rhythm might not be entirely accurate. ‘Circadian rhythm is a very individualised thing in the body – there’s nothing we can really do to boost it or change it,’ Medlin says.
‘It is about listening to the body and recognising whether you might be an early bird who feels hungry first thing in the morning or a night owl who perhaps feels hungry later in the morning.’
Can eating breakfast earlier help with hunger levels?
Medlin says that it could be worth eating breakfast earlier if you’re someone who feels very hungry later in the day. ‘If you find that you don’t eat first thing in the morning and then you get very hungry mid-morning, it’s an argument to suggest that eating earlier would support you with that,’ she says.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean everyone should eat breakfast early, as everyone’s hunger cues are different. ‘If you’re forcing yourself to eat breakfast first thing in the morning, it’s probably not going to be helpful for you or beneficial,’ Medlin says.
What about intermittent fasting?
You might be surprised to hear that eating breakfast earlier could be good for us, given the recent popularity of intermittent fasting, which encourages delaying your first meal of the day until at least 11am. It’s thought to help with weight loss but the jury is out on which method is better for us, as there is evidence to show both methods could improve your health.
However, Medlin stresses the importance of listening to your body and your hunger cues. ‘As soon as you start to get hungry, it’s important to have that breakfast that you are hungry for,’ she says. ‘Whether you eat within 30 minutes of waking or not is very much an individualised thing.’
The science backs this up too, as a recent study published in TREAT which looked at the effects of meal timing and fasting on weight loss found that the impact of not eating before midday varied widely between individuals.
What should you eat for breakfast?
A balanced breakfast is a great way to start your day and support your overall health. Medlin recommends combining a source of protein with fibre and some plants. ‘Greek yoghurt and a handful of granola and some fruit would be ideal,’ she suggests. ‘Or eggs with spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes would be great too.’
‘I tried eating breakfast first thing every day for a week’
Controversial opinion: whether or not breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it’s definitely my favourite. I go to bed looking forward to my bowl of morning porridge and a hot coffee and I enjoy the ritual of it, too.
Although, I’m not really in any routine as to when I eat it. Some days I’ll wake up at 6:30 and spend an hour in the gym before even thinking about breakfast, whereas others I’ll be prepping my porridge shortly after my morning shower. However, I rarely eat within 30 minutes of waking up. In fact, as someone who feels a little bit lethargic in the mornings (to say the least), I do very little at all within 30 minutes of waking up.
I wondered if eating breakfast earlier in the morning might help to offset that tiredness, supporting my circadian rhythm so I can prove to myself I’m the morning person I often claim to be. Plus, I was curious if doing so might help regulate my meal times throughout the day, and reduce the urge I have to snack in between mealtimes.
Writer Alice Porter changed the timing of her first meal of the day
My experience eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking for a week
On the first day, I told myself I’d be up and in the kitchen before my alarm even had a chance to snooze (yep, that’s ambitious). Honestly, I’m not someone who wakes up feeling all that hungry – even water takes its time going down first thing. But, as I shuffle out of bed and pull out my favourite berries, I start feeling a little more alive. Progress!
When I finally sit down with my porridge – loaded up with blueberries, raspberries, banana, flaxseeds, almond butter, and honey (I did say I love breakfast!) – my appetite’s warmed up a bit. It still goes down slowly, but that’s fine by me. Eating slower is good for digestion, after all. I have to admit, though, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I normally do when I’m really hungry.
But eating earlier did make me feel like my day was starting off on a productive note. One thing already ticked off! I don’t usually snack between breakfast and lunch, but around 11:30am, I found myself getting a little peckish. So I went for an early lunch around noon. The rest of the day followed that new rhythm, with meal and snack times shifting a bit. I probably ate about the same, just a little earlier.
The next few days were pretty similar, but by day four, I actually started waking up feeling a touch hungrier than usual. This stuck around for the last few days of my little experiment, but who knows if it’ll stay once I slip back into my regular routine (occasional lie-ins and all).
The bottom line: Overall, eating breakfast within the first 30 minutes of waking didn’t make a huge difference in my hunger or energy levels, but it did make my mornings feel a little more productive, which is a win in my book. The big takeaway? I realised it’s best to just listen to my body’s hunger cues. Going forward, I think I’ll stick to eating when I’m actually hungry and just listen to what my body wants and trust it.
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