You probably know someone who stays calm when a flight gets canceled or a deadline suddenly shifts.
The rest of us wonder how they do it. New research points to small, everyday habits that may be part of the answer.
Researchers at Binghamton University surveyed 401 college students and found that eating breakfast at least five times a week was linked to better stress handling.
The study appeared in the Journal of American College Health in 2025.
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The effect worked through what psychologists call psychological flexibility, the ability to step back from a stressful moment instead of being swallowed by it.
The morning meal
The study was led by Lina Begdache, associate professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University.
Students completed an anonymous online survey about diet, sleep, exercise and other daily habits. The researchers scored resilience and psychological flexibility using standard questionnaires.
Students who ate breakfast five or more times a week scored higher on psychological flexibility, which in turn predicted stronger resilience. Those who ate fast food three times a week or less showed the same pattern.
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Fewer than six hours of sleep, by contrast, was tied to lower scores on both. Exercise of at least 20 minutes, and regular fish oil use, were tied to better flexibility.
Pursuing a higher degree was directly linked to higher resilience, while marijuana use went the other way.
"When we're under stress, we feel like we fuse with the stress. We live the stress. But psychological flexibility is like stepping back and thinking, 'I feel this because of that. What can I do?'" Begdache said in a university announcement carried by EurekAlert.
The authors note the study shows associations, not cause and effect. Participants were on average 19 years old and nearly 60 percent were female, so the pattern may not hold in older adults.
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What it adds to the breakfast debate
The finding brings a new angle to a long-running debate about whether breakfast is really the most important meal. The question has mostly turned on weight, blood sugar and energy.
This study reframes it as a question of how the mind recovers from pressure.
The authors describe a simple pattern that lined up with better scores. Breakfast most days of the week, three or fewer fast-food meals, at least six hours of sleep, and roughly 20 minutes of movement.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.