“ Hope makes a good breakfast. Eat plenty of it .”
This saying might sound really inspirational, but truth be told, hope alone cannot sustain you. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day ; ever wondered why? Breakfast is basically the fuel for your entire day . Your vehicles can’t function until they’ve had their tanks full. Likewise, our tanks (aka stomachs) need some filling up too before we can go about our work.
When we wake up in the morning, we have basically been starving for hours. It’s called breakfast for a reason. You’re breaking your night long fast, so make sure you do that in the most prudent way. But here’s the present day dilemma; NOBODY has time to have breakfast. We’re so busy shaping our lives in ways where our own health is compromised. Be it education, profession, job or whatever; we tend to neglect what really matters. Our messed up sleeping cycles and routines have made it harder to be an early bird, and we’re all basically night owls.
While ignoring the first meal of the day might be easy and sound cool, but it can have devastating effects on your body and overall health. Here are some facts which might make you think twice before you run scurrying away, abandoning that bowl of cereal looking longingly at you to be consumed.
So why is breakfast so important ? Let’s have a look:
- Kick-starts your metabolism:
Who doesn’t want to stay fit and gorgeous looking? Eating breakfast kick starts your metabolism by making sure you’re pumped up with the necessary energy needed to stay active throughout the day . When you skip breakfast, you only end up consuming more the rest of the day. Moral of the story; if you want to stay healthy, slim AND have the strength to nail your day, have a good, healthy, nutritious breakfast .
- Reduces disease risks:
Breakfast has been associated with possible prevention of some chronic disease development . People that are sure to start off their days with a healthy, balanced breakfast have been shown to have reduced risks of developing diseases such as diabetes, cholesterol, heart diseases, obesity etc. It has also been concluded that breakfast helps your body rid itself of the “bad” LDL cholesterol. When you skip your breakfast, your body’s sugar level goes haywire and throws your body into a spin.
- Fuel for the day:
A normal functioning adult requires around 2000-2500 kcals of energy per day. This energy can’t come to you from thin air; you’ve got to have something to get it. A healthy breakfast helps you meet your daily energy requirements , and give you the push you need to function throughout the day. While a person’s energy requirement may vary depending on their daily activities and consumption, it is a matter of common consensus that breakfast will be the stimulus for an energy-packed day.
- Cognitive functioning:
Breakfast not only boosts our body to physically function promptly, but it also promotes a healthy functioning of the brain . Breakfast is a good source of carbohydrates , the nutrient mainly required by your brain. Studies have suggested that people who were regular with their breakfasts were shown to present with better mental health; less chances of depression and happier moods. It also helps people maintain a better memory and concentration level. So next time you end wondering why you keep forgetting those math formulas, reschedule your life and pay attention to that most important meal of the day.
- Body weight:
We’ve come across quite the benefits of breakfast . So is breakfast going to contribute to weight loss as well? Probably yes. When you eat a healthy, nutritious, balanced breakfast , you’re making sure you ready your body to go about with its first phase of the day. When you skip breakfast, you’re more prone to feel hungry and consume snacks and junk; a major warning call for calories . Breakfast may also provide you with proteins and fibers , which in turn keeps your appetite under control for the rest of the day. Isn’t that a win-win for everyone?
- Better performance at school:
This might just be the most evident outcome you could use to assess the advantages of breakfast . You’d start to notice an evident improvement in your child’s performance at school and studies, because they’d be more attentive, pumped up, energized and active. When children are starved because of skipping breakfast, half the time they’re staring at the clock, wondering when those minutes will tick by and it’d be time for lunch. Instead of having them long for recess, make sure they are well fed from home before they leave for school so that you can witness their astounding feats at school for yourself.
- Eating right:
So we’ve talked about how significant breakfast is for your health . That being said, let us reflect on what exactly must you eat for breakfast . There are tons of healthy choices to be adopted as your morning meals, but bear in mind that care must be practiced in making that decision, because what you eat in the morning will be reflected throughout the day. Here are a few examples of foods to be taken for breakfast:
- Eggs : who even starts off their breakfast without eggs? Be it any culture, any country, any civilization; egg has been a part of it all when it comes to breakfast. Eggs are high in protein , and their versatility in how they can be prepared, appealing taste, and instant cooking makes them a favorable choice.
- Cereals: be it oatmeals , brans, cornflakes or whatever; cereals are an AMAZING choice for both health and taste.
- Coffee : we all need that little dose of caffeine to make it through the boring stories of our colleagues and rants of our bosses.
- Greek yogurt : looking to keep yourself fit whilst getting maximum nutrition? Look no further, eat this protein-rich yogurt.
- Nuts: delicious AND nutritious . Best of both worlds!
Eating breakfast might take a few valuable minutes of your busy lives, but your day is meaningless and incomplete without a refreshing meal to nourish yourself and push your body to function throughout the day. So next time you choose to ignore your most important meal of the day , think again! It might cost you more than you think.
