Many people believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
They argue that if you skip it, your body won’t have enough energy to function well throughout the day, and you may be more likely to make unhealthy choices for lunch or dinner.
But what does the science say?
Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?
In this post, we’re going to break it down and get into it.
Here’s what you need to know.
Energy Levels
The first noticeable benefit to eating breakfast is a boost in energy levels.
You’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting, where you skip breakfast and wait to eat until later in the day.
Well, there are elements of intermittent fasting that do make medical sense. But here’s what researchers found in a new study that was conducted at the University of Bath in England.
They found that people who ate breakfast had more energy throughout the day.
It may not come as a massive surprise, but hey. It’s real, and it’s evidence that matters.
Eating Breakfast Is Linked To Better Health
Many different studies have linked eating a healthy breakfast to better health. This includes better memory, better concentration, less ‘bad’ cholesterol, and overall lower chances of health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
It’s also true that people who skip breakfast may be more likely to overeat later on in the day, to compensate for the lower energy levels they experienced by skipping it.
Eating Breakfast Sends Your Body A Very Specific Message
When you eat a healthy, balanced breakfast, you’re literally telling your body that there’s a surplus of calories available for the day. This tells your body to ramp up energy production, because it senses that energy is in greater supply.
But when you don’t eat breakfast, you send a different message to your body.
You’re basically telling it to conserve energy instead of creating it.
Why?
Because by not eating, your body senses that there’s a chance that there aren’t more calories available, and that you’ll need to store all of the energy you can for conservation.
It’s also interesting to note that, while people who skip breakfast do tend to eat slightly fewer calories during the day, they also tend to have a higher oveall body mass index.
The Major Benefits Of Eating Breakfast
As it turns out, there are numerous benefits to eating breakfast. Some of the more prominent benefits include:
- A lower BMI over time
- Better energy levels
- The tendency to consume less throughout the day
- Higher daily intake of calcium
- Being more likely to meet your recommended vegetable and fruit consumption for the day
- A higher daily fiber intake
- Better attention and memory performance
In Conclusion
Hopefully, this post has helped you to see that eating a healthy breakfast in the morning can have many different benefits for your health and well-being.
It’s certainly a vital part of one’s diet. It also sets the tone for the rest of your day, and can even impact how you will eat later on.
Do you think it might be time to start eating a well-balanced breakfast in the mornings?