How many times have you heard the phrase "breakfast is the most
important meal of the day"? Well, in this case it is not only an age-old
myth, but a medical truth. A Balanced breakfast can help improve your
mental functioning, affect your mood, influence a healthy weight and
reduce the risk of chronic diseases later on in life. When you skip
breakfast it can act as "nutritional boomerang "and adversely affect
your mental and physical state, both in the short and long term.
Even so, about 30% of the population don't bother with breakfast (and no, instant coffee does not count as breakfast). Among the most common excuses are: I don't have the time to fit in eating in the mornings, I'd rather save those calories, I forget to eat, if I eat in the morning I feel more hungry later on in the day and more.
So if you belong to the "excusers", you should read the following facts:
One. Jump Starts metabolism
breakfast jump starts your metabolism and fuels your body for the rest of the day. It will help you be more alert and maintain a more efficient metabolism.
During the night, your body significantly reduces its activity. In the morning, after a full night's sleep, the body starts activating its systems and organs back, and for that it needs "fuel" and energy. If your body does not get enough energy it will start addressing energy stores in the body. The result: we feel weak, less alert, and the time required for us to wake up and start the day takes longer than usual.
The word breakfast means breaking the fast, and refers to the fast our body experienced the night before. After not eating for several hours your metabolism goes into "starvation" mode, it slows down automatically and switches to energy saving and storage state.
This is the body's ingenious survival mechanism for dealing with situations of lack of food for hours and days, but because we live in an affluent society, survival situations are particularly infrequent, hence, prolonged fasting periods cause the body to simply store excess weight as fat.
Two. Weight loss and hunger
The concept that skipping breakfast contributes to weight loss and calorie saving is fundamentally wrong since by doing so, we actually throw our body out of balance. Many studies have also shown an inverse correlation between maintain a healthy weight and eating Breakfast, namely those who eat in the morning have a lower weight than others who skip breakfast. This relationship exists among all age groups.
The most interesting finding in these studies was that those who eat a nutritious breakfast indeed consume more calories per day, compared to people that are not eating breakfast at all, yet their weight was substantially lower. The reason for this is that a sustained lack of energy slows down metabolism and causes an intense need for food later in the day. Another interesting finding is that people who combine a healthy breakfast within a diet program find it easier to stick to their nutritional program over time and they will suffer less of hunger throughout the day.
Three. Maintains health
Many surveys investigating the effect of breakfast show a multitude of health benefits. The two most prominent include health surveys conducted by the American Dietetic Association for seven years and an Australian research spanning over three decades, which examined the effects of breakfast on the health status of the adult population. Findings indicated unequivocally that people who eat a nutritious breakfast on a daily basis are less likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Another comprehensive study published in 2003 the American Heart Association found that people who tend to skip breakfast has a significant chance of being obese at an older age and a higher chance of high blood pressure.
Four. Brain functioning
The brain and nervous system also need ENERGY and nutrients early in the day to fully and optimally function. The human brain is fed and utilizes glucose (sugar) as a sole source of energy and therefore an important component of breakfast should include carbohydrates. Skipping breakfast forces the body and brain, to "work harder" and break down scarce carbohydrates storages or alternatively breakdown fats and proteins into glucose.
However, eating breakfast has been proved to increase levels of concentration and alertness, mental capabilities and improved memory and mood. Skipping breakfast on the other hand, will lead to irritability, lack of concentration and general weakness.
Five. A Balanced diet
For people finding it difficult to keep a healthy and balanced diet throughout the day because of their busy schedule or for other reasons such as eating out, it is important to emphasize that breakfast is almost always under our control and therefore we can determine its quality. In addition, a strong relationship exists between skipping breakfast and following a diet with a poor nutritional value. Those who eat breakfast find it easier to obtain daily nutritional needs, compared to those who skip breakfast (for example with regard to the amount of vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, fiber).
Six. It is especially important for school children
Many studies have examined the effect of breakfast on school children - all showed that children who ate a nutritious breakfast were found to have lower fat levels and had a better chance to maintain a healthy weight in adulthood. In addition, these children were found to have a relatively increased learning ability.
You should know that breakfast has a profound effect on improving brain functioning, and encouraging learning
Hence it also helps to improve test scores and reduce signs of hunger such as stomach aches and headaches, muscle tension and fatigue - all factors that interfere with learning.
Make your children active in choosing and preparing their breakfast. Giving a personal example from parents and explaining about the importance significantly increase the chance of this important habit to be instilled in your children.
Breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. It contributes to health and well-being both in the short and long term.
Even so, about 30% of the population don't bother with breakfast (and no, instant coffee does not count as breakfast). Among the most common excuses are: I don't have the time to fit in eating in the mornings, I'd rather save those calories, I forget to eat, if I eat in the morning I feel more hungry later on in the day and more.
So if you belong to the "excusers", you should read the following facts:
One. Jump Starts metabolism
breakfast jump starts your metabolism and fuels your body for the rest of the day. It will help you be more alert and maintain a more efficient metabolism.
During the night, your body significantly reduces its activity. In the morning, after a full night's sleep, the body starts activating its systems and organs back, and for that it needs "fuel" and energy. If your body does not get enough energy it will start addressing energy stores in the body. The result: we feel weak, less alert, and the time required for us to wake up and start the day takes longer than usual.
The word breakfast means breaking the fast, and refers to the fast our body experienced the night before. After not eating for several hours your metabolism goes into "starvation" mode, it slows down automatically and switches to energy saving and storage state.
This is the body's ingenious survival mechanism for dealing with situations of lack of food for hours and days, but because we live in an affluent society, survival situations are particularly infrequent, hence, prolonged fasting periods cause the body to simply store excess weight as fat.
Two. Weight loss and hunger
The concept that skipping breakfast contributes to weight loss and calorie saving is fundamentally wrong since by doing so, we actually throw our body out of balance. Many studies have also shown an inverse correlation between maintain a healthy weight and eating Breakfast, namely those who eat in the morning have a lower weight than others who skip breakfast. This relationship exists among all age groups.
The most interesting finding in these studies was that those who eat a nutritious breakfast indeed consume more calories per day, compared to people that are not eating breakfast at all, yet their weight was substantially lower. The reason for this is that a sustained lack of energy slows down metabolism and causes an intense need for food later in the day. Another interesting finding is that people who combine a healthy breakfast within a diet program find it easier to stick to their nutritional program over time and they will suffer less of hunger throughout the day.
Three. Maintains health
Many surveys investigating the effect of breakfast show a multitude of health benefits. The two most prominent include health surveys conducted by the American Dietetic Association for seven years and an Australian research spanning over three decades, which examined the effects of breakfast on the health status of the adult population. Findings indicated unequivocally that people who eat a nutritious breakfast on a daily basis are less likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Another comprehensive study published in 2003 the American Heart Association found that people who tend to skip breakfast has a significant chance of being obese at an older age and a higher chance of high blood pressure.
Four. Brain functioning
The brain and nervous system also need ENERGY and nutrients early in the day to fully and optimally function. The human brain is fed and utilizes glucose (sugar) as a sole source of energy and therefore an important component of breakfast should include carbohydrates. Skipping breakfast forces the body and brain, to "work harder" and break down scarce carbohydrates storages or alternatively breakdown fats and proteins into glucose.
However, eating breakfast has been proved to increase levels of concentration and alertness, mental capabilities and improved memory and mood. Skipping breakfast on the other hand, will lead to irritability, lack of concentration and general weakness.
Five. A Balanced diet
For people finding it difficult to keep a healthy and balanced diet throughout the day because of their busy schedule or for other reasons such as eating out, it is important to emphasize that breakfast is almost always under our control and therefore we can determine its quality. In addition, a strong relationship exists between skipping breakfast and following a diet with a poor nutritional value. Those who eat breakfast find it easier to obtain daily nutritional needs, compared to those who skip breakfast (for example with regard to the amount of vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, fiber).
Six. It is especially important for school children
Many studies have examined the effect of breakfast on school children - all showed that children who ate a nutritious breakfast were found to have lower fat levels and had a better chance to maintain a healthy weight in adulthood. In addition, these children were found to have a relatively increased learning ability.
You should know that breakfast has a profound effect on improving brain functioning, and encouraging learning
Hence it also helps to improve test scores and reduce signs of hunger such as stomach aches and headaches, muscle tension and fatigue - all factors that interfere with learning.
Make your children active in choosing and preparing their breakfast. Giving a personal example from parents and explaining about the importance significantly increase the chance of this important habit to be instilled in your children.
Breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. It contributes to health and well-being both in the short and long term.
Jennifer Scott - Fitness Trainer and Nutrition Consultant. I am
passionate about health and fitness and dedicated to help others on the
path of leading a healthy lifestyle through my blog http://top-7-diets.com where I post about fitness, weight loss and healthy living. Give yourself a chance at losing weight top 7 diets is the place to start!
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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_C_Scott
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