Healthy Living

Breakfast benefits –
The importance of the most important meal

Mornings are hectic enough. There’s the waking up, the showering, the figuring out what to wear and the running around getting your gear together all so you can make it out the door and get to work on time. Who has time for a meal? It may seem like a harmless piece of your morning to skip, but Mom was right—breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

Your car is not the only thing that can’t run on empty. Your body also needs fuel to stay up to speed. If you last ate at 6pm, skipped breakfast and didn’t eat again until noon, you’ve essentially been fasting for 18 hours. Breakfast is meant to literally break the fast.

Glucose is the body’s fuel. It keeps our brains and nervous systems working. So, functions like walking, talking, typing and stretching all require glucose to keep going. Feeling groggy and cloudy at work? A little fuel first thing in the morning will get your day off to a much better start.

Dieting? Don’t cut your calories at breakfast, which can actually lead to overeating later in the day. Also, while you’re not eating, your metabolism is plummeting. The last thing you want to do is keep your metabolism at this lowered state. Keep it up and working by eating!

Eating breakfast also helps your ability to think, which really comes in handy at work. According to a study published in the November 2001 issue of The American Journal Clinical Nutrition, eating breakfast improved participants’ performance on memory tests.

What you eat for breakfast is just as important as making it a part of your morning routine. Slamming down a donut and soda is not the kind of fuel your body needs. Sugar will give you a quick boost, but will cause you quickly to crash, making you feel even worse. You want to eat foods that sustain energy, like oatmeal and fruit. Try spreading peanut butter on fruit or whole-wheat toast, or cream cheese on a wheat bagel. A yogurt and a Nutri-Grain® bar also make a great breakfast. Stay away from simple carbs like white bread, regular bagels and many cereals. These are too easily digested and will make you feel hungrier sooner.

Tell us about your typical breakfast routine – do you have any suggestions for those breakfast skippers out there?