First Things First: The Importance of Breakfast

I am not a great fan of breakfast; I would love to do anything but eat breakfast. I soon realized that it is not a good habit. I therefore had to reconsider and start consciously forcing breakfast down my throat.

It has rightly been said that if you do not eat breakfast, you will tend to eat more servings at lunch time which is not so good because then you add on more pounds. Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day mainly because it gives the brain energy to channel through the day and makes one more agile and active. It energizes the various body systems and makes them work at optimal levels. Now you see where I am going with this.

Someone once gave me an advice that if I cannot eat large chunks of food at breakfast time, I could take some fluids like juices or the good old tea. Someone else said fruits are also very good if you tend not to be the breakfast type like me. They are all healthy choices because they contain some of the various nutrients that the body needs and could even help you gain appetite to eat stuffs like bread, hope you get the picture; bread and tea!

I still have to make conscious efforts to eat breakfast, sometimes I fail though, but I am getting there. I love this phrase so much; “Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper”, because it drives home my point. It tells us that we need breakfast much more than we need dinner. Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast. I also read that the name originates from its meaning; breaking the fast and that without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car without petrol.

Research shows that those who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight and more likely to be within their ideal weight range compared with breakfast skippers.
The NHS (National Health Service) says “Eating breakfast has long term health benefits. It can reduce obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.”
Studies have shown that eating breakfast helps improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels.

The importance of breakfast cannot be over emphasized from its health benefits to its psychological benefits.
A registered dietician, Susan Kraus explained that “eating breakfast prevents you from bottoming out and getting too hungry. Without eating breakfast, you are more vulnerable to cravings and less likely to make healthy choices in the morning and throughout the day”.
Nutritionists advise that breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking. However, Kraus is of the opinion that breakfast can be taken at anytime in the morning but make sure you do it.
So get eating, you can start with a cup of water or some juice to whet your appetite and you will see that indeed you really did need to have some breakfast. Do first things first, try not to skip breakfast!