Sure, anyone following an intermittent fasting (IF) diet can nosh on mostly whatever they want during non-fasting hours (IF doesnt restrict any food groups or come with specific calorie goals). But when you close up your kitchen on the early side every night and have to wait until noon the next day before you can eat again, those a.m. hours can feel like they're ticking by verrrryyy slowly.

The nice thing about intermittent fasting is how flexible it is, which means you don't have to skip breakfast if you're following an IF diet. That's just how most people choose to do it since it tends to be the least painful way to make it through the typical 16-hour fasting period.

Skipping breakfast during IF is popular because you dont notice hunger or symptoms of fasting while sleeping, says registered dietitian Danielle Schaub, culinary and nutrition manager for Territory Foods . Its just easier for most people to delay breakfast than it is to go to bed hungry.

Okay, so maybe you dont have to skip breakfast to see success with IF. But will you see more weight loss, specifically, when you delay eating until later in the day? Heres what experts say about skipping breakfast when youre intermittent fasting.

What happens to your body when you skip breakfast?

Weirdly, the impact of skipping breakfast on your health and weight is one of the most hotly contested topics in the nutrition world. While the breakfast debate has been going on for years, newer research suggests that eating breakfast doesnt help you lose more weight (but skipping it might not, either), according to Harvard Health.

The research is mixed about skipping breakfast, [with some studies] reporting that skipping breakfast can lead to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and others reporting that skipping breakfast does not affect a persons overall health, says Stella Volpe , PhD, registered dietitian and chair of the department of nutrition sciences at Drexel University.

A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition considered the impact of skipping breakfast on several measures, finding an increase in inflammatory markers in the blood on days when the meal was skipped. However, the sample size was extremely small.

Though the debate about breakfasts effects on your long-term health continues, there may be some benefits to your daily wellness when you choose to eat breakfast. Some people do well without breakfast, but I recommend eating it to provide energy for your brain and body so you can function well during the day, says Amy Shapiro, RD, founder of Real Nutrition . Also, if you skip breakfast you may overeat at meals later on due to excessive hunger.

Can you lose more weight when you skip breakfast as opposed to your other big meals?

Not necessarily. Look, if breakfast is your dietary weakness, so to speak (hello, pancakes and bacon loaded up with sugary syrup), but youre typically more sensible about lunch and dinner, then you personally might see more weight loss if you skip it. But in general, theres no correlation between skipping breakfast and shedding pounds faster.

There isnt conclusive research that when you eat matters. Its the overall calories consumed in a day relative to how many calories you burn that dictates weight loss, says Schaub.

In other words, if fasting in the morning works for you, greatbut theres also no reason why you cant fast between, say, 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. as long as youre not overloading calories during the eight hours youre eating.

So...does it even matter when my fasting hours happen?

Mostly, no. When it comes to the question of whether you should (or shouldnt) skip breakfast, thats totally a personal preference. And, like Schaub said, what you eat is more important than when.

But there is one time of day when you probably shouldnt be eating a lot, and thats late at night . A handful of smallish studies (like this one from 2013 and this one from 2014 ) suggest that eating later in the day often leads to higher caloric intake and could eventually lead to higher BMI, too.

Its been reported that eating later at night can increase a persons blood glucose concentrations or risk of diabetes, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, adds Volpe. So it may be better for people to consider consuming foods not too late in the morning [to avoid pushing eating hours] too late into the evening.

Night owls, for example, should avoid fasting all day and only eating during evening hours (like from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.). In general, Shapiro recommends eating when the sun is up, and stopping when the sun is down.

Is there anyone who shouldn't skip breakfast?

Though IF is fairly user-friendly, there are a few groups of people who either flat-out shouldnt be skipping breakfast (or any meals, for that matter) or who should at least consult a physician or registered dietitian first.

Shapiro says that list includes pregnant women, insulin-dependent people with diabetes, anyone with a history of disordered eating, athletes or intense early-morning exercisers, and anyone who tends to overeat at meals.

As WH previously reported , people with hypoglycemia and people who travel or change time zones frequently may also want to avoid IF.

Lastly, one note about eating breakfast before your a.m. gym sesh: Schaub says that eating before a workout is a personal preference, and it wont harm you to jump on the treadmill on an empty stomach. But if youre a serious athlete or planning a high-intensity workout first thing in the morning, skipping breakfast could leave you running on fumes.

Athletes who are headed out for a workout that is longer than 60 to 90 minutes or have a race coming up need to fuel properly, says Shapiroso plan accordingly .