We all know that eating breakfast is a healthy idea, but scientists have just given us another reason to break that nightly fast. Tony Goldstone, of the MRC Clinical Science Centre at Imperial College London, found that skipping breakfast not only leads to larger meals later in the day, but also cravings and a greater willingness to eat unhealthy food.

After presenting a group of participants with pictures of food, Goldstone found that people who had not eaten breakfast had a far more active orbitofrontal cortex when looking at high calorie, sugary foods than those that had eaten breakfast.  The more activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, the more a person enjoys the food they are eating.

Goldstone concluded that by skipping breakfast, you are setting yourself up to be more tempted by unhealthy, high calorie morsels.  So, unless you have the will power of a bus-pulling strong man and can control your cravings, do yourself a favor and eat a full, healthy breakfast.

Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/28/should-i-eat-breakfast

http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=ad6ab60f-ef54-429c-b9a6-6aecaac4bc4d&cKey=d099c6c0-159b-48f6-934f-46e4e3da4a61&mKey={70007181-01C9-4DE9-A0A2-EEBFA14CD9F1}

http://www.impactlab.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Strong-Man-802.jpg