What's the deal with breakfast? Is it really okay to skip?

(WJBK) - We've all heard the saying -- but is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?

America's heart healthy doc Dr. Joel Kahn joined us on The Nine to set the record straight. He explains two medical studies based on the breakfast issue. 

"One confirms a long observation, and it's out of Spain, that people that responded, 'I skip breakfast,' don't tend to be very healthy," he says. "They're eating late at night; they're smoking; drinking; drinking soda pop; and they're not hungry in the morning. They're running off to work and then do a lot of unhealthy habits."

"The newer study was teenage girls struggling with their weight. We're going to plan a really healthy day but we're not going to eat breakfast and we're going to have a nice, full healthy lunch. They lost weight. Over the course of the whole day, they ate 350 less calories. That turns out about 3 lbs. a month," he explains.

The bottom line? Dr. Kahn says skipping breakfast may be beneficial to your weight loss -- as long as you make a plan. Make a plan for your other meals and snacks so you won't overeat.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," he says. "Building out a little fasting in your life isn't such a bad thing. We eat too much."

Dr. Kahn admits he's mostly a breakfast skipper.

"I eat breakfast maybe once a week, and I'm great with energy until about noon when I have lunch," he says.

"Sometimes I feel when I do eat breakfast, I'm hungrier. So I don't know if it's actually making things better or worse," Deena also admits.

"It takes a little while, maybe a week, to get in the sequence," Dr. Kahn says. If you're going to start skipping breakfast, he says you can drink a big glass of water, or some tea or coffee to help adjust.

Dr. Kahn warns that underweight people, obviously, should not skip the nutrients and calories of breakfast, nor should people on insulin or those with low blood pressure.