Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Do you have a healthy breakfast every day?
This article will analyze why breakfast is important and what health benefits you get from breakfast.
Like many, you could be comfortable with a light breakfast or skipping breakfast altogether. If so, you are severely risking your health for many reasons.
Importance Of Having A Good Breakfast
Many of us just ignore breakfast as we are in a hurry to leave home for work or believe in the weight loss myth of ‘skipping breakfast increases fat burning.’
Breakfast is a must if you wish to be healthy and energetic.
Here are seven reasons that make breakfast the most important meal.
1. Breakfast Makes You Energetic And Strong
The term ‘breakfast’ means ‘breaking the fast.’ Your body has run out of fuel after an overnight fast.
You begin your day’s work on a very low energy level by skipping breakfast. It is almost like driving your car for long hours with hardly any petrol in the tank.
A healthy breakfast provides instant energy and essential nutrients the body needs. Your breakfast could be more rewarding for your health if you follow the below-given tips.
- Breakfast should be taken within 2 hours after you wake up.
- About 30% of your daily calorie intake should come from the breakfast.
- Breakfast should contain varieties of food and preferably different items on each day of the week.
- Make sure to have a healthy breakfast with sufficient fiber, protein, and fat to get an instant energy boost in the morning.
- Balance the calorie intake according to the energy needs of the body and according to the type of work you do.
2. Healthy Breakfasts Provides Essential Vitamins And Nutrients
Unlike fat, our body does not store vitamins and minerals beyond the daily requirement. The body needs a daily supply of essential vitamins and nutrients in the required amount.
Not having a healthy breakfast denies the body the much-needed vitamins and minerals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because we should begin our active day by consuming the required amount of vitamins and nutrients.
Most people limit breakfast to a few slices of bread or some ready-to-eat processed food for convenience or laziness. This trend could be better and healthier.
Breakfast is healthy when you include fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, and whole-grain-based foods.
Make sure the foods you eat at breakfast contain important nutrients such as calcium, B Vitamins, and iron.
If you have already missed the supply of essential vitamins and minerals at breakfast, it is highly unlikely it will be compensated at other meals of the day.
3. Healthy Breakfast Is Good For Weight Loss
Some people are obese because they have not realized why breakfast is important. Probably they skip breakfast, or they need to eat a healthy one.
Several studies showed having a healthy breakfast daily helps in weight loss and body weight maintenance.
If you have a protein-rich breakfast, you will only feel hungry for a few hours. And also, you will not be interested in having any junk foods or snacks between the meals.
Several studies have indicated that people who do not eat healthy breakfast have a 68% higher chance of binge eating. They also tend to overeat during lunch and dinner.
The blood sugar level is already down after a night-long fast, and it goes down even further by not having a healthy breakfast. As the blood sugar level goes down, the person feels hungry, leading to heavy snacking or binge eating between meals.
A protein-rich breakfast suppresses the appetite and helps reduce abdominal fat. Belly fat is considered to be the mother of all obesity-related diseases.
The waistline becomes bulky with the increased consumption of high-sugar and fatty snacks. A person who has had a healthy breakfast won’t have the urge to eat sugary snacks and junk foods.
A healthy breakfast would help in promoting healthy metabolism. The overnight fasting during sleep turns our body into starvation mode.
At this stage, the metabolic activities are minimal to a bit of fat burning for the constant energy supply needed for normal bodily functions.
You need to eat a healthy breakfast to produce the enzymes needed to increase fat metabolism.
4. Healthy And Sumptuous Breakfast Makes You Happy And Active
A sumptuous and healthy breakfast in the morning is the best way to begin your day in a happy mood.
The satisfaction you have derived from a good breakfast helps you to be more motivated and happy throughout the day.
If you have had a bad breakfast or skipped it entirely, you will most certainly have an unpleasant day. This pulls down your energy levels and disturbs your mood and enthusiasm. Surely, breakfast is important because it contributes much to your happiness and contentment.
5. Have Breakfast For Healthy Hearts
One of the Harvard studies published in 2013 points out men who regularly skip breakfast are at a 27% higher risk of experiencing a heart attack and cardiovascular diseases.
The men who skipped breakfast would feel increasingly hungry later and are sure to eat a lot of junk foods in the mid-morning hours and will be overeating during lunch and dinner as well.
For a hungry person (a person who skipped breakfast), high-calorie and high-fat foods are the most satisfying. No wonder why such people are vulnerable to heart diseases.
6. Breakfast Eaters Have Better Mental Skills
One of the journal reports published in the American Dietetic Association says that kids who eat healthy breakfast have better problem-solving skills, eye-hand coordination, and concentration.
Children with a healthy breakfast are mentally more alert and physically active. This same is quite true in the case of adults too. Now you can imagine why breakfast is your child’s most important meal of the day.
Breakfast helps improve cognitive power as it restores healthy glucose levels in the blood needed for the better functioning of the brain.
The healthy foods we eat in the morning also help us to improve our mood and lower stress levels, which are important for better concentration and memory.
Certain studies have shown that children who eat healthy breakfasts have improved attainment, calm behavior, and perform better in studies.
7. Healthy Breakfast Makes Your Day More Productive And Happy
The excellent energy boost you receive with a good breakfast at the beginning of the day gives you the stamina and energy required to do well in your work.
It is often said that hungry people are angry people. Being hungry in the morning can make you lose your cool too fast and get irritated easily for any silly reason. Skipping breakfast is not a good idea as it flattens your mood.
A nice breakfast is relishing and helps you start your day very refreshed and composed.
If your energy levels are low, naturally, you cannot perform your work to the best of your capacity. Skipping breakfast will certainly make you less productive in your work.
Final Thought
Breakfast should be included for the many good reasons discussed above.
An excellent energy boost in the morning with a good breakfast will ensure better physical and mental health. It also helps you to be more productive and effective in whatever you intend to do during the day.
If you are trying hard to shed body weight, a healthy breakfast in the morning is a must.
Plan your family’s breakfast ahead of time and stock your kitchen with healthy choices of foods. You should try out various healthy recipes for breakfast for the sake of your children, as they get disinterested in breakfast if the same foods are prepared daily.
I hope this article has done justice in elucidating why breakfast is the day’s most important meal. Please add your thoughts on the importance of breakfast in the comment section below.