Never Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is a must. They say ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper’, which is a very true saying especially as far as breakfast is concerned. It is considered to be the most important meal of the day because after a gap of almost 8–10 hours body is in the state of fasting, and it helps in replenishing your body. Thus giving a healthy kick-start to the day…

Breakfast and Weight loss

It is a myth that if you skip your breakfast, you would lose weight. On the contrary, a research study has proven that weight loss is more prevalent in people who eat a nutritionally balanced breakfast rather than in people who skip it.

Breakfast and Lifestyle Disorders

A study reveals that missing breakfast or eating late in the day might increase the risk of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

In fact, eating balanced amount of protein and fiber for breakfast may reduce your hunger throughout the day. A remarkable 20 years long study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010, studied the breakfast patterns of thousands of Australians. When the study started in 1985, these participants were children who were then under observation for 20 years for their breakfast habits. The participants who were stated to miss their breakfast both as kids and adults had bigger waistlines and were heavier than those who were consuming breakfast both the times in their lives. Also, the breakfast skippers had higher “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, and their diets were less healthful than those who were regular breakfast eaters. Thus consistent breakfast-eating is linked to lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Breakfast and Metabolism

As quoted earlier, after a night’s sleep, the body is in the state of fast. Its metabolic rate drops down. Hence by ‘breaking the fast’ in the morning it helps the metabolism to rev up. Breakfast literally refuels you with the required calories and nutrients and you get charged up to face the entire day. By raising ones metabolism it also helps indirectly to manage weight better. If the body is not provided with the nutrition required and if the fast continues for a longer period of time, the metabolism slows down, thus lowering the body’s ability to burn energy and thus may lead to weight getting stuck or may even cause weight gain.

Breakfast and Mental Health

A well balanced breakfast meal also helps in achieving and maintaining mental alertness throughout the day. Kids who eat breakfast on regular basis show better alertness in class and on tests than the children who do not consume it and thus improve school performance. Researchers say regular consumption of breakfast is related to enhanced memory and concentration as well. If it’s true for kids, I am sure it would definitely provide adults with the same benefits!

Also, it helps enhancing your mood.

Your breakfast should be nutritionally balanced, eye appealing and a variety of foods is the key so that you would want to continue with the habit.

Here are some examples of healthy breakfast meals

1. Vegetable poha with sprouts

2. Idli with Sambar (containing vegetables)

3. Whole grain bread with an Egg-Veggie Omelet

4. Oats Porridge (in low fat milk) with fruit and nuts

5. Tawa roasted vegetable paratha with low fat curd

6. Moong dal and Oats Cheela with Green Chutney

7. Whole wheat roti with pulse and vegetable preparation etc…

Hence it should contain nutrients such as fiber, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats in balanced amounts. Likewise you can create hundreds of healthy combinations of your choice to prepare a healthy and yummy breakfast meal.