Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day? An RD Sets the Record Straight

Do you remember those PSA-like conversations your parents and teachers would have with you as a kid, repeating the importance of eating a well-rounded breakfast in order to have the best day possible?

Now that you're the one in charge of your morning eats, you have to ask yourself: Is breakfast important to how the rest of your day pans out? In the latest You Versus Food episode, Tracy Lockwood Beckerman investigates this age-old claim to reveal the truth.

"All right call in the myth-busters, because I hate to break it to you, but no meal is the most important meal of the day," Beckerman says. (Is your 12-year-old mind blown or what?) "Having well-rounded, nutritious meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with healthy snacks in between is vital to our body’s well-being." And to think we've been saving the spotlight for breakfast when lunch has been a superstar this whole time.

"I hate to break it to you, but no meal is the most important meal of the day."

But that doesn't mean you should quit avo toast any time soon. "Breakfast quite literally breaks the fast we had overnight, it replenishes your supply of glucose, provides essential nutrients to keep your energy levels up throughout the day, and also helps to jumpstart your metabolism," Beckerman says. Anyone who's skipped breakfast can attest to the brain fog that follows—and it's no joke.

On top of trying get in a proper breakfast every day (a yogurt cup with fruit counts!), you can add a multivitamin like Centrum to the mix to gain essential vitamins and minerals that are necessary for your overall health and well-being, which can be hard to gain from food alone. Your multi is like a BFF who cares just as much about your health as you (and your breakfast) do. "Moral of the story: Breakfast is bae," Beckerman adds. Enough said.

Watch the video above to learn more about why you should prioritize a morning bite—plus, 4 RD-approved breakfasts to make yourself.

Sponsored by Centrum Vitamins