Key PointsA study presented at Nutrition 2026 found that teens who started eating breakfast consumed more fiber, iron, zinc, and choline than those who continued skipping it, without increasing their overall calorie intake.Teens who ate a high-protein breakfast with about 30 grams of protein saw the greatest improvements, including lower added sugar intake. Both breakfast groups also ate fewer desserts, sweets, and candy than teens who skipped breakfast.The findings have not yet been peer-reviewed, but they add to a growing body of research on the potential benefits of eating breakfast. The researchers next plan to study whether a high-protein breakfast affects food-related thoughts and cravings, or “food noise.”Running out the door without eating breakfast? You may want to think again, especially if you’re a teenager. In late July, Emma Rose Brown, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, presented her research at Nutrition 2026, the American Society for Nutrition’s flagship annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. The study found that teens who usually skipped breakfast and then started eating consumed more fiber, iron, zinc, and choline overall than those who continued skipping it, even though calorie intake remained roughly the same across all groups. To add a little icing on the cake, Brown found that those who ate a high-protein breakfast (30 grams of protein at breakfast) saw the sharpest improvements, including a notable drop in added sugar throughout the rest of their day.AdvertisementAdvertisement”This is one of the largest and longest tightly controlled breakfast trials in adolescents,” Brown, who studies under the mentorship of Heather Leidy, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Department of Pediatrics, said. “Our findings suggest that adding breakfast, particularly one rich in protein, may be an effective way to improve nutrient intake and diet quality among older adolescents.”To reach this conclusion, Brown and her fellow researchers recruited 128 teens ages 14 to 21 who reported skipping breakfast at least six times a week, then split them into three groups: one that continued skipping, one that ate a normal-protein breakfast (about 15 grams), and one that ate a high-protein breakfast (30 grams). The team prepared and packed more than 18,000 meals, each featuring familiar teen fare like burritos, quesadillas, egg scrambles, and smoothies, and delivered them in coolers at the start of the study and again at three and six months.Participants could eat as much or as little as they wanted over three-day windows at home, while researchers tracked intake by weighing the coolers before and after and asking participants to recall everything they’d eaten over 24 hours. Participants ate the provided meals more than 90% of the time.AdvertisementAdvertisementRelated: Turns Out, This Simple Breakfast Add-On Could Be the Key to a Sharper, Faster MindThe researchers found that both groups that ate breakfast consumed fewer desserts, sweets, and candy throughout the day than the group that skipped breakfast, and the high-protein group cut back on added sugar even further.”Although most Americans think that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, there isn’t a lot of evidence to support this idea,” Brown said. “We wanted to see whether consuming a high-protein breakfast would increase nutrient intake and promote healthier eating throughout the day.”Adolescents who began eating breakfast consumed more essential nutrients than those who skipped it. High-protein breakfasts were also linked to lower added sugar intake throughout the day.Credit: Roberto Moiola / Sysaworld / Getty ImagesOf course, there’s still more work to be done in this field, as this research was presented at a conference and hasn’t gone through the peer review process just yet. But the team has plans for more. They noted in a statement that next they plan to study how increasing protein at breakfast affects food-related thoughts and cravings, sometimes called “food noise,” in young adults generally, as well as in adults who are stopping GLP-1 medications, which could eventually help inform strategies for long-term weight management in this age group and beyond. But now, let this serve as a reminder that taking a moment to sit down and eat a scrambled egg before you head off for your day may not be a bad idea. AdvertisementAdvertisementRelated: Our 11 Most-Saved Breakfast Recipes for a Seriously Good MorningThis isn’t the only study to show that breakfast can make a difference in human health. In January 2025, Food & Wine reported on a study published in the Journal of Neurorestoratology that found regularly eating breakfast may lower the odds of cognitive decline as you get older. In September, we also shared the findings of a decade-long study that showed that eating breakfast at the same time as we age may reduce our risk of early death. For now, the takeaway is refreshingly simple: For teens, that egg scramble they almost skipped might be doing more for them than they realize.What 30 grams of protein at breakfast actually looks likeIn this study, teens who ate about 30 grams of protein at breakfast saw the biggest improvements in overall diet quality, including consuming less added sugar throughout the rest of the day. While you don’t have to count every gram, these breakfasts each provide roughly that amount of protein:Three eggs with three-quarters cup cottage cheese (about 31 grams)Two cups plain Greek yogurt with nuts and berries (about 30 grams)A breakfast burrito with eggs, black beans, and cheese (30–35 grams)A smoothie with Greek yogurt, milk, and protein powder (30–35 grams)An egg scramble with turkey sausage and whole-grain toast (about 30 grams)Read the original article on Food & Wine
