Haven't eaten your breakfast yet? Or have you skipped again?
These questions may sound silly but eating a healthy breakfast is a very important thing to do before you go and start your day. Some of you might have been skipping breakfast because you’re going to be late for your appointments or work but what you do not know is there are many health benefits that you would be missing if you are not going to eat breakfast. In the following article by Alyse Kalish, she states that there are many downsides of skipping breakfast: You're only making your life harder if you skip breakfast I despised eating breakfast when I was in elementary school. Not because I didn’t like food (I love food), but because I’d rather use those extra 20 minutes to sleep. This, of course, was a huge mistake—I’d get nauseous, fall asleep in class, and be overall cranky, distracted, and foggy-headed until lunchtime came around and I could fill my stomach with something substantial. Just about everything we eat is converted by our body into glucose, which provides the energy our brains need to stay alert. When we’re running low on glucose, we have a tough time staying focused and our attention drifts. This explains why it’s hard to concentrate on an empty stomach. Check out the rest of the article here.
That explains why we feel sleepy and weak at work or in school; it is because our body lacks the energy that it needs to perform at its best. Aside from the energy that our body uses, we should also maintain a balanced glucose level to prevent ourselves from gaining too much weight which increases the risk of having diabetes and other heart related illnesses.
In the following post by Consumer Reports, they cite additional reasons why we should eat in the morning: Why eating the right breakfast is so important Roll your eyes if you like, but the old bromide about breakfast being the most important meal of the day is true (mostly). Breakfast eaters tend to have better diets overall, consuming more fruit, vegetables, milk, and whole grains than non-breakfast eaters. “After a healthy breakfast your blood sugar increases a little bit, but it will take a while for your body to absorb it,” says Eric Rimm, Sc.D., a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. “So you might not be hungry for lunch for 5 hours.” If you don’t bother with breakfast, though, the prolonged fasting might lead to a bigger than normal boost in “hunger hormones” such as ghrelin, encouraging you to overeat at your next meal and leading to spikes and dips in glucose. “Over time, if your pancreas is constantly producing insulin to compensate for high levels of glucose, it will burn out and you’ll develop diabetes,” Rimm says. This is your body on breakfast Findings from a study called the Bath Breakfast Project at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom illustrate the effect that morning meals have on glucose balance. (See infographic below.) Researchers asked a group of subjects to eat 700 or more calories by 11 a.m. and another to fast until after noon. Both groups could eat whenever and whatever they wanted the rest of the day. Blood sugar was monitored every 5 minutes. 5 good reasons to eat in the morning 1. It may protect your heart In a recent study that involved almost 27,000 men, researchers found that those who didn’t eat a morning meal were 27 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those who did. “Our research indicates that people who skip breakfast gain weight, which can lead to diabetes as well as high cholesterol and blood pressure—all of which can raise your risk of heart disease,” Rimm notes. The reason isn’t entirely known, but he says that breakfast skippers tend to overeat at other meals and snack excessively throughout the day. 2. It might lower your risk of type 2 diabetes A morning meal may help you avoid fluctuating glucose levels, which can lead to diabetes. A study of almost 30,000 men found that not eating breakfast raised the risk by 21 percent, even after taking into account their body mass, what they ate, and other factors. In a study of women, those under age 65 who skipped breakfast even just a few times per week were 28 percent more likely to develop diabetes than women who ate it regularly. And if you’re in the habit of dashing out the door for work in the morning with only a cup of coffee, take note: Women in the study who worked full-time had a greater risk than those who worked part-time, the researchers noted, possibly because job stress has been found to raise glucose levels. 3. It gets you moving In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), people who ate breakfast were more physically active during the morning than those who didn’t. That might be because a temporary increase in blood sugar gave them more energy. It’s interesting to note that those who ate a morning meal consumed more calories over the course of the day than the breakfast skippers—but they didn’t gain weight because they were more active. Read the full post here.
If you have clicked the links for two of the most popular breakfast items above and you like them, here is another yummy resource regarding fast and healthy breakfast ideas so you will not get tired of eating the same breakfast every day:
18 Fast, Healthy Breakfast Ideas Emily Kinni Mustard, Avocado, and Dill on a Whole-Wheat Muffin With Boiled Egg Everything's better with avocado on top—including a warm and toasty whole-wheat English muffin. Some whole-grain mustard and a pinch of dill lend the dish an extra pop of flavor and fragrance. Round it out with a creamy soft-boiled egg, and you've got a real breakfast champion. Grace Elkus Healthy Banana Bread This whole-wheat banana bread is so moist and delicious, you'd never know it's guilt-free. Unsweetened applesauce replaces oil or butter and, instead of refined sugar, the loaf is sweetened with honey. Bake it over the weekend, then take slices with you on busy weekdays. For a boost of protein, spread with a tablespoon of peanut butter.
Now we have learned how important eating breakfast is for us and for our kids. We should not have any more reason to skip breakfast, should we?
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AuthorWorking as a clinical lab technician. Mother to 2 beautiful children. Love shopping and going out on weekends with family. Attending dance and yoga classes. Archives
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