Margot Robbie's personal trainer says that fasting has two obvious benefits

• We are often told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but recent research suggests that this may not always be the case.
• David Higgins, whose clients include Margot Robbie and Claudia Schiffer, believes that breakfast is overrated.
• He is a champion of intermittent fasting, which normally involves consuming fewer calories and reaping the benefits of fasting 16 hours a day.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," most people said as we grinned. "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a poor man," they told us.

These words go hand in hand with the idea that you should consume most of your calories early in the day so that your body can use all its energy.

But many health and fitness professionals realize that they achieve their goals by ignoring this advice.

In fact, David Higgins, personal trainer and physiotherapist in Hollywood, believes that breakfast is overestimated.

Higgins is the author of the new book The Hollywood Body Plan and has formed many big names in showbiz. Her star customers include Margot Robbie, Claudia Schiffer, Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Firth, Rebecca Ferguson and Naomi Campbell. .

The fitness expert believes that people should not be forced to eat breakfast if they do not really want to.

"Sometimes you do not need to have your breakfast," Higgins told INSIDER. "The whole of" breakfast is the most important meal of the day "is a 1940s marketing campaign aimed at selling eggs, which is what we were all raised to believe."

In fact, it was the advertising for bacon and eggs that started to spread the message of breakfast that was so well rooted in all of us, according to the Guardian: it was created by a public relations expert to a food production company.

Read more: Being too hungry could prevent you from losing weight, according to a personal trainer

However, various studies have also concluded that breakfast eaters are thinner than those who skip the morning meal.

There are many health and nutrition experts who believe in a hearty breakfast.

Rhiannon Lambert BSc MSc ANutr, badociate nutritionist and spokesperson for the Association for Nutrition, advocates eating in the morning.

"Breakfast can be a great way to get a dose of nutrition for the day ahead, by increasing fiber intake (90% of the UK does not reach the recommended 25g per day), protein , vitamins and minerals like iron, and, in some cases, vitamin D, "she told INSIDER.

"According to individuals, a good breakfast can increase your energy by adding fuel to the tank and helping your brain to move to a productive morning."

If neglecting to break your fast with a nutritious bowl of porridge or omelette leads you to a snack in the middle of the morning and to demolish a packet of cookies at 11 o'clock, it will not really be a healthy move.

However, a study from the University of Bath revealed that skipping breakfast do not coach people who consume bigger lunches and dinners.

Higgins is in fact a supporter of intermittent fasting, an approach to eating that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years.

Intermittent fasting basically means reducing your daily window of consumption to about eight hours, giving your body 16 hours of fasting a day. For many people, it basically means skipping breakfast, lunch at noon, then eating the last food of the day at 8 pm.

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As Higgins explains, intermittent fasting offers a two-pronged approach to improving your health: you consume fewer calories and you also benefit from the health benefits of giving your digestive system a rest 16 hours a day.

"If you eat normally every 16 hours a day, it's very difficult to get the same amount of food if you cut by half the time you allow yourself to eat," he says.

"You will not consume as much because you do not have the time to consume it, but you also give your body time to recover and digest without having to overload your metabolism." Give the body a rest is essential . "

Indeed, intermittent fasting has been proven to reduce insulin levels in the blood, help cells repair themselves, increase your metabolic rate and reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Higgins admits that some people feel they need to eat in the morning, but he thinks that means they just have to switch windows and basically skip dinner.

"You have the ability to adapt your diet to your lifestyle and personal habits," he says.

Higgins is not the only person to defend intermittent fasting: personal trainer, former professional sprinter and author of The 2 Meal Day, Max Lowery recommends cutting a meal a day, whether it's breakfast or dinner .

Read more:A stockbroker turned personal trainer explains why breakfast is not the most important meal of the day

"It's not that we should not be having breakfast strictly speaking, breakfast simply means breaking your fast, but you certainly do not need to break your fast early in the morning." when you wake up, "he told INSIDER.

"By prolonging your night's sleep (everyone fasting overnight), you allow your body to tap into its stored energy reserves – body fat."

Lowery said many benefits were badociated with it, including weight loss, a reduction in overall hunger, and a significant improvement in energy levels.

"It basically teaches you to understand what hunger is and believe it, the fact that your stomach is empty does not necessarily mean that you should eat," he said.

"For me, it is there that lies the power of intermittent fasting, you learn to listen to your body and restore your hunger, which gives an incredibly powerful power."