Breakfast is often referred to as the “most important meal of the day”.
In the past weight loss experts have impressed the important of breakfast on dieters to boost weight loss potential.
However, new wisdom is casting doubt on their long-held diet belief.
Nutritionist Hebe Mills, founder of Hebe Mills Nutrition, is an associate nutritionist.
After she was diagnosed with gluten intolerance and IBS she was inspired to learn more about the science of food.
Now she runs her website and Instagram account where she posts recipes and wellness tips.
She gave Express.co.uk her professional guidance.
Should you eat breakfast to lose weight?
Hebe says breakfast is not necessarily the most important meal of the day, Hebe claims.
She said: “While breakfast foods specifically can be a great source of fibre and other nutrients, skipping breakfast is not ‘bad’ for you.”
In fact, Hebe has claimed that intermittent fasting could help weight loss, meaning skipping breakfast could be a good idea.
Hebe said: “With the rise in research about long term health benefits of periods of fasting, we need to retune our bodies to eat when we are hungry.
”Breakfast literally means ‘breaking the fast’ and if you eat late in the evening and wake up full, there’s nothing wrong with skipping breakfast and/ or tiding yourself over with a banana mid-morning until lunch.”
What is intermittent fasting?
Hebe said: “Intermittent fasting is a concept where participants alternate between eating and fasting and eating in specific time periods.
“It doesn’t restrict what you’re eating, it just dictates a time period when you are able to eat.”
In fact, eating breakfast could lead to dieters putting more weight on by accident.
“Skipping breakfast does not mean you will gain weight, but be mindful that doing it specifically to ‘lose weight’ may lead to overeating at other meal times and over-snacking.,” Hebe said.
“Be sure to include foods high in fibre at other mealtimes if you do skip breakfast as breakfast foods are often a key daily source.
”Try and think intuitively and listen to what your body wants when you wake up in the morning.
“Personally, I love breakfast foods so I find it difficult to leave behind but if you’re not a breakfast person there’s nothing to worry about!”
Another popular diet plan is the keto diet.
She said: “Be mindful of the high energy content in a number of foods recommended in the diet.
“Fat contains more calories than carbohydrate (which isn’t a bad thing in the slightest!) so it may be worth monitoring your energy intake if the purpose of the diet is for weight loss.”