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Foods provide fuel for the body. People's energy levels depend greatly on what, how much and when people eat, which is why health experts have stressed the importance of putting nutritious foods into the body. Many of these experts have also continuously recommended people to eat a good and hearty breakfast. However, several recent studies have reported that eating breakfast might not affect one's health as much as people have believed.

Here are five myths about breakfast:

1. Breakfast is the most important meal

Health experts, parents and other caretakers have stated repeatedly that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. By starting off the day with a healthy meal, the body would ideally feel full and satisfied through to lunchtime. When people are starving by lunchtime, they might pick meals that are highly satisfying but not healthy. Despite this argument, some studies have found no health differences between people who ate breakfast and those who did not. What seems to be more important is what people choose to eat as opposed to when they eat it.

2. Breakfast can make you smarter

People have believed that breakfast makes the brain sharper and therefore, smarter. However, this is not the case. Instead, people, regardless of age, have better cognitive functioning when they are not hungry. If people are not hungry in the morning, eating breakfast will not necessary affect their brain functioning.

3. Eating breakfast can curb hunger

As mentioned before, people believe that skipping breakfast can lead people to crave more foods. In a recent Cornell study, researchers found that even though people who skipped breakfast reported higher levels of hunger, they did not actually eat more calories throughout the rest of the day.

4. Eating breakfast can help with weight loss

People who believe that eating breakfast can reduce cravings throughout the day also tend to believe that eating breakfast can help with weight loss. However, according to a study conducted by researchers from Vanderbilt University, eating breakfast did not lead to significant weight loss.

5. Breakfast speeds up metabolism

Some breakfast eaters believe that eating this meal can boost metabolism, leading to a higher resting metabolic rate. An increased rate would ideally help the body burn calories faster. Despite wanting this link to be true, there simply has not been any evidence that breakfast can speed up metabolism.

Instead of focusing on eating breakfast just because people say it is an important meal, people should listen to their bodies and their appetite.