Skipping breakfasts isn’t a good idea, as some facts about breakfast reveal that it can contribute to many health benefits including; weight loss, boosting the brain’s power, providing energy for the day, providing essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, etc.
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What is breakfast?
Breakfast is the first meal you eat in a day, usually eaten in the morning [1].
The compound word breakfast is made up of “break” and “fast”, which simply implies breaking the fasting period of the previous night [2].
The National Institutes of Health, says the average adult sleeps for about seven hours or less per night.
This means most humans get pretty close to exhausting their glucose storage by the next morning. It is important to replenish this supply of energy with breakfast.
Let’s look at five facts why breakfast is necessary:
Did you know?
1 in 5 US adults skips breakfast (20%), while 80% tend to have breakfast daily [3].
5 Facts About Breakfast
Here are 5 fascinating facts about breakfast.
1. Stay focused and concentrate
It is no news that when you are hungry you can’t seem to focus on anything especially if you missed breakfast.
This lack of focus and concentration is because when the stomach is empty, it secrets the hormone ghrelin, which signals your brain that it’s time to eat (the feeling of hunger), making it so hard to focus on anything.
Breakfasts should be rich in protein, fiber, and carbohydrates, to keep the stomach full and provide the most energy possible before lunch.
2. Breakfast Kick-starts Metabolism
Some researchers suggest that people who skip breakfast have a tendency to have poor metabolism.
They said, coupled with the overnight fasting when you skip breakfast, the body assumes you are starving and so slows down your metabolism in an attempt to conserve energy [4].
Breakfast stimulates the thermogenesis process. The earlier you eat breakfast the earlier you start your metabolism.
During metabolism, energy is produced for your daily activity. The body better regulates insulin levels when you eat your breakfast.
However, though all the suggestions make sense, there isn’t sufficient scientific evidence to back all the claims up.
3. Breakfast and weight loss
Again, some scientists believe that losing weight is easier when you start your day with a healthy breakfast.
This is so because it will prevent you from snacking and overeating later in the day.
Though this makes sense, there is again no sufficient scientific data to prove it.
Rather, some studies have shown that skipping breakfast reduces the overall daily caloric intake by up to 400 calories [5, 6, 7], which is a good step for weight loss.
4. Avoid late eating
The saying “eat breakfast like a king, lunch as a prince, and supper as a pauper” is because 3 hours before bedtime, your metabolism slows down and prepares you to go to sleep.
If you eat late (less than 3 hours before you sleep) and you are not active to use the energy produced during the metabolism, that energy will be stored as fat which is unhealthy [8, 9, 10].
If your aim is to lose weight, eating a heavier breakfast and less supper at least 5 to 4 hours before bedtime is preferable.
5. Breakfast replenishes the lost nutrients
While asleep, our body goes into survival mode, using up the nutrients it stored to keep us alive until morning.
The first essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients are obtained from breakfast. Breakfast foods should be rich in nutrients such as folate, calcium, iron, B vitamins, and fiber so as to replenish the lost nutrients.
Breakfast provides a lot of your day’s total nutrient intake. A study showed that people who eat breakfast are more likely to meet their recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals than people who don’t.
Did you know?
The USA’s favorite breakfast in 2022 is cereal, as 14% of people say this is their preferred choice and Eggs are the nation’s second most popular breakfast option, favored by 11% of people [11].
Healthy Breakfast Ideas
The first meal of the day should be balanced and should contain a little bit of everything; fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fibers, proteins, healthy fats, milk, nuts, and spices.
a. Fruits and vegetables:
Fruits like; cherry, pineapple, blueberry, grapefruit, kiwi, strawberry, fig, red grape, pomegranate, goji berry, watermelon, lemon, blackberry, papaya, cantaloupe, banana, avocado, and apple are great options because they are loaded with vitamin c, and are quick energy sources.
Some have even been known to have anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting, antioxidative, and detoxifying properties.
Vegetables like spinach, bell pepper, kale, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes are also great breakfast choices.
b. Whole grains:
Whole grains are not only rich energy sources but equally, help to facilitate bowel movements and pooping.
Healthy choices include; oats, amaranth, quinoa, polenta, Khorasan wheat, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, etc.
c. Proteins:
Important protein sources include; eggs, turkey sausage, bacon, hard cheeses, and nut butter.
d. Healthy fats:
Healthy fat options like avocado, olive oil, chia seeds, and nuts, are equally encouraged.
e. Milks:
Almond, coconut, soy, and other low-fat non-dairy kinds of milk are advisable.
Did you know?
Wendy’s is America’s favorite restaurant to get breakfast, with an average of 288,000 searches being conducted each month for the term ‘Wendy’s breakfast [12]
f. Nuts and seeds:
Almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and flaxseeds are healthy choices.
Not only are they rich in omega-3 fatty acids, but they are also loaded with free-radical fighting antioxidants.
g. Fiber:
Fibers will help you feel full longer. Good sources include; whole grains, nuts, cereals, potatoes, bananas, etc.
h. Spices:
Extracts of turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cumin, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, or almond are good choices.
Conclusion
Eating healthy breakfasts is important for healthy living.
A 2018 study revealed that those who ate breakfasts lived a healthier lifestyle than those who didn’t. Whether on a weight loss journey or not, it is actually very recommended that you take your breakfasts and exercise seriously.
However, if you are on a weight loss journey, be mindful of the number of calories in your breakfast servings, and always try to stick to healthy weight loss breakfast plans to minimize the yo-yo dieting effect.