Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We hear this statement often enough, but it helps to know exactly why eating breakfast is good for health. Here’s the science behind it.
Medically reviewed by Jezreel Esguerra, MD · General Practitioner
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We hear this statement often enough, but it helps to know exactly why eating breakfast is good for health. Here’s the science behind it.
The following are some of the science-backed benefits of eating a healthy breakfast:
You could say that our metabolism has two modes–one is the energy-gathering mode, the other is the energy-mobilizing mode.
Eating breakfast is good for health because it gets our metabolism back on track.
Since our glucose reserves are running low from the night of fasting, eating pushes our body to store glucose again.
One of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast is that it can help boost brain function.
As mentioned earlier, our brain mostly depends on glucose for energy. Skipping breakfast thins the body’s glucose reserves, and therefore deprives the brain of the energy it needs. This leads to sluggishness, inattention, and memory lapses. As a result, even simple tasks can become more difficult to accomplish.
People who want to lose weight often skip breakfast because their goal is to reduce the number of calories they take. While this seems logical, studies show differently.
In one study involving Japanese men and women, the researchers found out that skipping breakfast contributes to annual changes in men’s waist circumference and body mass index. Moreover, they also revealed that eating breakfast at least 4 times a week could prevent excessive body weight gain.
Interestingly, a separate piece of research concluded that skipping breakfast had a greater influence on a person’s waist circumference and BMI than eating dinner less than 3 hours before bedtime. For this reason, it’s safe to say that eating breakfast is good for your health, particularly your weight.
Why is eating breakfast good for your health? Well, according to experts, it’s because it provides you with the essential nutrients you need to keep going. Scientists emphasize that people who eat a healthy breakfast regularly are more likely to meet their recommended dietary intake of nutrients like iron, fiber, calcium, and B vitamins.
Most of the essential vitamins and minerals can only be obtained through our diet. So skipping breakfast means one less opportunity to load up on these nutrients.
Aside from the above benefits of eating a healthy breakfast, it can also prevent certain health conditions. One study shows that skipping breakfast daily is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The same research highlighted that having breakfast even just once a week can potentially prevent heart diseases.
And finally, one of the most important reasons why eating breakfast is good for your health is it can help prevent Type 2 diabetes.
Several researchers discovered that the more frequent you skip breakfast in a week, the higher your risk of type 2 DM is. This large-scale study with over 96,000 participants even highlights that skipping breakfast even just once a week already increases your risk of Type 2 DM by up to 6%. That is in comparison to those who are eating breakfast daily.
We’ve already established that eating breakfast is good for your health, but here’s another important point: What you eat matters.
So, to help ensure that your breakfast is healthy, consider these ideas:
Now, the next thing to focus on is for you to be more inspired to eat breakfast daily. These tips could help:
Based on the scientifically-proven benefits we discussed in this article, it’s easy to see why breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day.
It jumpstarts your metabolism, boosts brain power, supplies you with essential nutrients, and even helps prevent long-term health conditions.
However, besides breaking the fast, it’s also important to carefully choose what you eat. Add a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, in your plate. And of course, have healthy drinks like smoothies and milk.
Learn more about Healthy Eating Tips here.
Disclaimer
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
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