Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And it really is!
Eating breakfast kick starts your metabolism, provides your body with essential nutrients, helps maintain a healthy weight, and protects you from disease. Even with the facts about how important breakfast is, 30% of Americans still skip breakfast.
Why? Because many people feel they don’t have the time for breakfast or they don’t like breakfast foods, or they think that by skipping breakfast they can avoid adding extra calories to their diet and lose weight. However, none of these reasons are good enough or factual enough to actually skip breakfast altogether.
Making time for breakfast has enormous health benefits and can actually help to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Here are some powerful reasons to start or continue eating breakfast in the morning.
People who are trying to lose weight skip breakfast thinking that the calories they don’t eat will reduce their overall intake. This plan actually backfires, because when you starve the body of food and nutrients it actually holds onto fat, burning calories much slower to conserve energy.
When you skip breakfast the body stays sluggish because it’s gone all night without food and you are waiting even longer to provide it with the nutrients to function optimally.
After fasting all night when we are asleep food actually jumpstarts the metabolism, basically kicking it into high gear so the body burns calories more effectively throughout the day. Easting breakfast not only stimulates calorie burning but also will wake you up because you now have the energy to use.
Another thing, the kind of breakfast food you eat will also determine how your body responds. Nowadays breakfast foods consist of simple carbohydrates i.e. Doughnuts, cereal bars, white bread, sugary cereals, and bagels. These types of foods are loaded with sugar and usually have a high number of calories, which spikes your blood glucose levels.
Although it will give you energy it will be short-lived and when your blood sugar crashes so will you and you will crave more sugary substitutes before you even hit lunchtime.
By eating a hearty breakfast with complex carbohydrates, which digest slowly such as oatmeal or whole grain bread, or bagels, which are high in fiber and low in sugar, you will provide your body with a steady source of energy and keep your cravings down.
A hearty breakfast not only provides the body with enough energy to last you all morning but also gives the body the nutrients to function optimally. When you skip breakfast it’s harder to get the recommended daily allowance of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
When the body is in a state of energy deprivation most people head for the quick fix of sugary, high-calorie, high-fat snacks. Not only does this impede your body’s ability to function, but it also hurts your ability to lose weight.
By eating a healthy breakfast that contains complex carbohydrates, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and fiber you can consume a healthy balance of essential nutrients that will help the body function throughout your day. Overall people who eat breakfast tend to have a better diet than those who skip breakfast altogether.
Not only will your body burn calories more efficiently and you will have more energy by eating a good breakfast but it will boost your brainpower as well. After a long night’s sleep the body has used up most of the glucose and glycogen stores that are converted to energy, so these need to be replenished through the consumption of food.
If you don’t eat breakfast the body slows down calorie burning to conserve energy. When your metabolism slows so does the rest of your body’s functioning. Y
ou may feel tired, sleepy, fatigued, experience headaches, mental fuzziness, and the inability to concentrate. By eating breakfast your energy stores will be restored and you will feed your brain the glucose it needs to fire neurons and synapses to make clear conscious decisions.
Along with fatigue, mental fogginess, and headaches, not eating breakfast can lead to long-term health problems. Because breakfast is where most people get their fiber, skipping this meal can have costly effects on the body.
Skipping a breakfast high in fiber can lead to higher levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). Fiber binds to cholesterol and helps to excrete it out of the body rather than clogging up the arteries.
This reduces the risk of heart disease. Fiber also reduces excess estrogen in the body which over time can increase the risk for breast cancer. Breakfast can be the healthiest meal you eat all day. That’s why eating a high-fiber breakfast can help to reduce your risk for disease and start your day off on the right track.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah Labdar
