Dr Oz says eating breakfast should be 'cancelled' because 'most Americans are addicted to food'

TV personality says we should 'have brunch every day of the week'

We’ve always been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but a famous doctor is calling on people to quit it altogether.

The seemingly radical idea that we should "cancel breakfast" comes from American TV personality Dr Mehmet Oz, who announced his plans during an interview with TMZ.

“I think for 2020 one of the first things I’m gonna do is ban breakfast,” Dr Oz said. “I don’t think we need to eat breakfast, that’s an advertising ploy.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the dogma that we were fed for decades came out of advertisements, it wasn’t really based on the truth around our health.”

According to Dr Oz, the “smartest thing” for us to do is “cancel breakfast and have your first meal when you’re actually hungry.''

“In fact, cancel breakfast and have brunch every day of the week,” the talk show host said, explaining that, most of the time, people are not even hungry when they first wake up in the morning.

For those who do experience hunger in the morning, Dr Oz said it is likely because of food “withdrawal”.

“You’re not even hungry you’re having withdrawal because you had some super-carbohydrate like a potato chip or some french fries at 10 at night,” he said. “That means that your body’s insulin is all whacked up. By the next morning that withdrawal is happening and you’re starving.

“Most Americans are addicted to food when we should be addicted to life,” the 59-year-old added.

While there have been numerous studies conducted on the effects of eating breakfast, including whether the habit has the ability to lower rates of heart disease and obesity, much of the research has been inconclusive - as some studies show the meal can be beneficial while others show it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Most experts have concluded that breakfast should be optional - as the health benefits do not outweigh those experienced when skipping the meal.

As for whether you should continue eating your breakfast if it’s a healthy one, Dr Oz suggests continuing to do so - but at a later time.

“You got to do it at the right time to have done it right,” he said, adding: “Move your breakfast back a couple of hours, you’ll be happy.”

The unsupported claim that breakfast is the most important meal of the day emerged due to a number of different factors - including heavy advertising campaigns.