It's six in the morning and all you want is a few more minutes of sleep, instead you find yourself at the breakfast table, head hung over a bowl of cereal, trying your best not to fall into it.

早上6点，你的愿望只是想再多睡几分钟，然而事实却是你坐在餐桌前，无精打彩的面对着一碗麦片粥，尽力不让自己扎进碗里去。

You have a big exam in a few hours, your stomach is in knots and it's difficult to even keep coffee down, but your mother is hovering¹ around with toast, juice, cereal and insisting that you eat because breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

上午你有一个重要的考试，你的肠胃因为紧张而紧揪着，甚至连咖啡都很难喝下去，然而妈妈却在一旁准备好了面包、果汁、麦片，还不停的劝你吃下去，因为早餐是一天中最重要的一顿饭。

We were always told to sit down and relax while eating, yet we grab toast or a piece of fruit while rushing out the door because we are also told we cannot miss breakfast.

我们总是被告知，吃饭时要坐下来，放松。然而，有时我们又抓上一块面包或者一片水果就冲出门去了。这还是因为我们被告知：不能不吃早餐。

In the past, when people set off to their jobs as farmers, wood-cutters, fisherman, and iron-smiths at the first light of day, it was logical to consider breakfast the most important meal. All the work was done manually and people would travel days on end through deserts and un-inhabited places with little to no possibility of getting a meal. From farmers to soldiers to tradesmen, everybody tried to get one good meal in the morning to store enough energy for their hard, long day ahead since there were no guarantees of a mid-day meal or dinner for that matter.

在过去，农民、伐木工人、渔民以及铁匠在拂晓时分就要开始一天的工作了，那时，将早餐看作是一天中最重要的一餐是顺理成章的。所有的工作都是体力活，人们还有可能在沙漠或者荒无人烟的地方连续赶路多日，基本不可能吃到一顿像样的饭。不管是农民、士兵还是商人，每个人都设法在早上吃顿好饭，为他们辛苦的、漫长的一天储备足够的能量，因为在那样的情况下，中餐或者晚餐都是没有保证的。

Now most of us have desk jobs and our workday takes us from a chair at home to one at the office and even sitting comfortably in cars or other public transportation² where restaurants or cafés are every 10 steps; why do we need to stuff ourselves in the morning?

回到当今，我们大多数人都在办公室里工作。我们从家里坐到办公室，甚至舒服的坐在轿车里或者其他的公共交通工具里，到餐厅或者咖啡厅不过是走个几十步的事。为什么非得在一早上把自己喂得饱饱的？

Today everyone, especially the cereal companies, seem to push the belief in the power of breakfast. Some believe that breakfast helps us kick-start our day, which might be true if you wake up hungry. Otherwise, where is the sense in eating without an appetite?

今天，每一个人，特别是麦片食品公司，好像都在致力于宣扬早餐非常重要的理念。有部分人认为早餐可以帮助人们开启精神饱满的一天，如果你早上醒来就很饿，那么这也许有道理，否则，早上都没有胃口，吃早餐的意义何在？

Nutritionists say that breakfast helps us maintain a healthy body weight and assists in losing weight by jump-starting your metabolism³. A good breakfast can help prevent snacking and eating large portions for lunch, but if you choose to eat healthy snacks and control meal portions, then there seems to be no direct correlation⁴ between breakfast and a healthy weight or weight-loss.

营养学家表示，早餐能帮助人们保持健康的体重，通过启动身体的新陈代谢功能，还有助于减肥。一份高质量的早餐能防止你吃零食以及中午吃的太多，但如果你选择吃健康的零食，并控制好每餐的份量，那么看起来，吃不吃早餐与健康的体重以及减肥之间并没有直接的联系。

Our body is intelligent enough to signal us when it needs nourishment⁵, that's why we feel hungry and thirsty. All meals are equally important when eaten upon requirement, and not when some old fashioned doctrine⁶ pushes it down our throat.

我们的身体是足够聪明的，当它需要营养时它会发出信号，这就是为什么我们会感到饿，感到渴。当根据自身的需求去进食的时候，那么每一餐都很重要。而像老话说的那样，把食物强塞进去，则每一餐都失去了意义。