If you look at the word breakfast, you may begin to understand why it’s such an important meal. It is a combination of two words, break fast. The fast that is broken is the one that occurred while you were asleep. Even sleep burns calories.
One of the reasons you need to eat is to keep your blood sugar levels normal. Skipping breakfast can put you at risk for a dangerous drop in sugar levels. Eating the wrong foods can have the opposite effect, before dropping sugar levels more than skipping the meal would do.
This translates to “skip the donuts.” Actually, avoid any sugary food first thing in the morning, with the possible exception of fruit and fruit juice. A good breakfast includes lean protein, fiber and complex carbohydrates. It does not include a lot of sugar, salt or fat.
There are a lot of reasons a good breakfast can affect your health. As mentioned, blood sugar control is one of them. Even if you aren’t a diabetic, skipping the meal will mess up these numbers.
It’s also difficult to concentrate without eating properly. Children perform better in school after a proper breakfast than they do by either skipping the meal or eating sweet stuff. Adults are the same way; we can just hide it a little better.
Forgetting this meal can also lead to fatigue and low energy levels. This can decrease job performance and increase your risk of an accident, either in your vehicle or while at work. It may amaze you how much better you feel after you start eating that meal again.
One of the biggest problems that comes from avoiding breakfast is the feeling that you’re “owed” calories later. This can cause you to overeat, and not be aware of it. Eating calories later does not mean that you can go over your calorie budget.
If you don’t know what constitutes a good breakfast, or if you have medical issues that could change what you can safely eat, ask your doctor for a referral to either a nutritionist or dietician. They can help you set up a meal plan that will give you more energy, keep your sugar levels even and make you feel satisfied. It really is the most important meal of the day.