Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast - that's where its name originates, breaking the fast! Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car with no petrol!
Breakfast kick-starts your metabolism, helping you burn calories throughout the day. It also gives you the energy you need to get things done and helps you focus at work or at school. Those are just a few reasons why it’s the most important meal of the day.
Nutritionists advise:
- breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking
- a healthy breakfast should provide calories in the range of 20-35% of your guideline daily allowance (GDA).
Breakfast immediately raises the body’s energy level and restores the blood glucose level to normal after an overnight fast. It also raises the muscle and liver glycogen stores. Carbohydrate is the preferred fuel for muscle and the nervous system.
Breakfast immediately lowers the blood level of the stress hormone cortisol, which peaks during the early morning hours
Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of getting diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.
Children who habitually consume breakfast are more likely to have favorable nutrient intakes including higher intake of dietary fiber, total carbohydrate and lower total fat and cholesterol.
Breakfast also makes a large contribution to daily micronutrient intake. Iron, B vitamins (folate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12) and Vitamin D are approximately 20–60% higher in children who regularly eat breakfast compared with breakfast skippers.
Consuming breakfast can also contribute to maintaining a body mass index (BMI) within the normal range.
Studies show that most people who lose weight and keep the weight off eat breakfast every day.
So, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!
"EATING BREAKFAST HAS LONG TERM HEALTH BENEFITS. IT CAN REDUCE OBESITY, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES."-NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
Source: shakeupyourwakeup.com, webmd.com, doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00425, John L Ivy, PhD- University of Texas at Austin (http://easacademy.org/)