Breakfast Isn't the Most Important Meal of the Day: Here's Why

Don't you dare skip breakfast; this must-have meal helps keep your weight down and your metabolism up. Yet countless studies have touted the importance of the first meal of the day.

Is it really as important as some say, particularly for weight loss?

One study by researchers at Britain's University of Bath set out to see why breakfast may not be all it's cracked up to be.

"I almost never have breakfast," said lead study author James Betts of the university, via the New York Times. "That was part of my motivation for conducting this research, as everybody was always telling me off and saying I should know better."

For the study, researchers examined 33 men and women of normal weight who either ate a 700-calorie breakfast or skipped it altogether for six weeks. Researchers monitored the participants' metabolic indicators such as blood sugar, cholesterol and resting metabolic rate.

Findings revealed that the metabolic profiles of most were pretty close throughout the course of a normal day.

A second study also examined the morning eating habits and weight loss of 300 volunteers who expressed a desire to lose weight. The participants were put in certain groups that ate breakfast every day, skipped it every day or just kept on with the usual morning habits.

After 16 weeks, all of the participants were weighed. Researchers found that overall, very little weight loss was recorded from each of the groups. Furthermore, researchers found that weight loss was unaffected whether they were regularly eating breakfast or skipping it.

Breakfast may just be another meal on the road to weight loss. But if you're happy with a healthy dose of eggs and bacon, just enjoy.