Whether or not breakfast is the “most important meal of the day” is a debate that rages on, and many researchers and health pros will be quick to tell you that “breakfast skipping” is strongly associated with weight gain and the prevalence of obesity.

Generally speaking, correlational studies have found that folks who skip breakfast tend to have poor overall diet quality and make poor food choices compared to regular breakfast eaters. Along those lines, a number of studies have found that consuming high-protein breakfast improves appetite control, reduces cravings and snacking, improves diet quality, reduces eating when you’re not truly hungry, and supports healthy weight management.

With that in mind, WHAT you eat for breakfast can truly make a difference, and today, I want to share my top 3 breakfast foods.

Eggs are synonymous with breakfast, and eggs provide one of the highest quality sources of protein. However, there’s much more to the incredible edible egg. They are one of the few foods that are a good source of vitamin D. Low levels of the “sunshine vitamin” are linked to obesity, excess belly fat, poor insulin sensitivity, low testosterone, insufficient thyroid function, poor mood, and more! Eggs are also a very good source of healthy fats, which are linked to cardiovascular health and correlated to optimal levels of sex hormones like testosterone. Not only that, researchers have found that a breakfast that’s higher in fat and protein and lower in carbs can lead to greater fat burning throughout the day, as well as improved profiles of the stress hormone cortisol.

Greek yogurt is second on my list of top breakfast foods because it is a very good source of protein, which boosts metabolism, improves appetite control, accelerates fat loss, supports healthy blood sugar management, builds calorie-burning lean muscle mass, and promotes recovery and feelings of wellbeing. Greek yogurt is also a great source of probiotics, including one particular strain that was shown in recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition to help folks lose weight and keep it off.

While there are so many great breakfast foods, my next favorite…bananas. I’m sure that may come as a surprise to some; you might even say I’m bananas. However, bananas are a nutrient powerhouse, and they are a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, manganese, biotin, and copper. What’s more, I’m especially fond of bananas because they are one of the few foods that’s a great source of resistant start, which is a specific type of prebiotic fiber that feeds that healthy bacteria of the gut, increases feelings of fullness, reduces food intake both acutely and in subsequent feedings, increases fat burning, decreases fat storage, improves insulin sensitivity, and increases calorie burn. And to think that some people think bananas are “bad”…Ripe bananas contain less resistant starch than green bananas, and I usually keep my semi-ripe bananas in the refrigerator, which stops the ripening process, to preserve as much resistant starch as possible.