There's a reason why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not only does it give you the energy to start a new day, it is also linked to many health benefits, including weight control and improved performance. Breakfast kicks your metabolism into gear and fuels your body and brain for the day. It helps you concentrate and perform well at your tasks. Breakfast can also help you maintain a healthy weight! For one thing, if you skip breakfast you will be hungrier later and are likely to overeat.
Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast can help give you:
• A more nutritionally complete diet, higher in nutrients, vitamins and minerals
• Improved concentration and performance at work
• More strength and endurance to engage in physical activity
• Lower cholesterol levels
Breakfast benefit: Weight control
Some people skip breakfast in an effort to lose weight, but the practice is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss. In fact, skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity. Many studies have shown that breakfast eaters tend to weigh less than breakfast skippers.
Why? One theory suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can reduce hunger throughout the day, and help people make better food choices at other meals. While it might seem you could save calories by skipping breakfast, this is not an effective strategy. Typically, hunger gets the best of breakfast-skippers, and they eat more at lunch and throughout the day.
There is a large body of research today that suggests that skipping meals, especially breakfast, can actually make weight control more difficult. Breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger. Several studies suggest that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals.
So, while skipping breakfast may seem like a perfectly logical way to cut down on calories and lose weight, this practice is likely to be counterproductive and lead to weight and body fat gain instead!
Choosing the right breakfast foods
Eating breakfast is part of a healthy lifestyle that includes making wise food choices and balancing calories with exercise. It's worth noting that most studies linking breakfast to weight control looked at a healthy breakfast containing protein and/or whole grains “ not meals loaded with fat and calories. This just goes to show how important it is to choose the right foods for breakfast. A healthy breakfast meal should contain a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low- or non-fat dairy and lean protein.
Even if you think you don’t have time to eat breakfast, there are quick and easy options that fit the bill. Some quick and healthy choices include:
• An omelette and a piece of whole-wheat toast or roti
• A slice of whole-wheat bread/roti with low-fat cheese, a scrambled egg, and some fresh fruit
• Smoothie made with fruit, low-fat yogurt and some nuts
• Whole-grain cereal with fresh fruit and low-fat milk
• Oatmeal or dalia made with skim milk, raisins and nuts
• Low-fat yogurt and some fresh fruit
• Hard-boiled egg and a banana
So go ahead “ eat your breakfast and kick start your metabolism! You need the fuel to help you start your day.
- Nivedita Dempo is a fitness expert and the owner of Studio 101, Goa’s premier fitness centre
