Start Your Day by Refueling

By Adetutu Adetule

Breakfast, also called brunch, early meal and morning meal, the food prepared for a breakfast, is the first meal of the day, taken in the morning.

Being the first meal of the day, the fast metabolism rate means your body will effortlessly break down food to release energy and utilize that energy to keep you energized all day. You are breaking the fast your body went through the night and fueling it with essential nutrients to get your day started. 

“The morning is a busy time! When you are trying to get yourself to work, even when working from home, or taking your kids to daycare or school, time for you to eat breakfast is not going to naturally occur. It takes conscious effort to make sure you provide yourself with the time to sit down at a table, in a chair, and enjoy at least 15 minutes consuming a well-balanced breakfast.”

The best time to have breakfast is between 7 am and 8 am. Under no circumstances must you delay your breakfast beyond 10 am. So, don’t be late for breakfast!  When you’re hungry, it’s harder to concentrate.

Your body and brain are craving nutrients, start the day by refueling with nutritious foods like milk, fruits, and whole grains, protein, carbohydrate-rich foods like yogurt and oatmeal are especially important for improving concentration and focus. Yet many of us just grab a cup of coffee and miss out on all of breakfast’s amazing benefits.

What are the different types of breakfast?

• Continental breakfast

A light morning meal, typically consisting of pastries and baked goods, fruits, toast, and coffee.

• American breakfast

A cereal or an egg-based dish, however, pancakes, waffles, toast, and variants of the full breakfast and continental breakfast are also prevalent.

• English breakfast

A substantial breakfast including hot cooked food such as bacon and egg

• Nigerian Breakfast

Bread with egg, akara and pap, instant noodles and eggs, moi moi with custard or pap, okpa.

Hausa koko and koose (Spicy millet porridge and akara).

Benefits of Eating Breakfast Each Day

• Improves your energy levels
• Improves metabolism
• Provides many beneficial nutrients and boosts your fibre and calcium intake (compared to not eating breakfast)
• Reduces the likelihood of over-consuming high kilojoule foods later in the day
• Stabilises your blood sugar levels
• Essential Nourishment
• Essential vitamins and minerals (fuel)
• Increased Energy levels and ability to concentrate in the short term
• Improved Concentration and focus
• Helps control emotions
• Better weight management
• Reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease in the long term

Is it important what you eat for breakfast?

However, it’s important to choose the right mix of macro nutrients to give your brain and your body what it needs to thrive. For example, choose breakfast foods that contain a mix of carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats and fiber. Carbohydrates will give you energy right away, and the protein will give you a boost later on.

What happens when you skip breakfast?

Low blood sugar causes people to feel irritable, confused and fatigued. The body begins to increase production of cortisol, leaving us stressed and angry.

Skipping meals can also cause your metabolism to slow down, which can cause weight gain or make it harder to lose weight.

Effects of Skipping Breakfast

According to Mary Sabat, says, “If people skip breakfast, they are more likely to overeat later in the evening or nighttime when their bodies don’t need the extra calories. This late-night eating can lead to insulin spikes before bed and put them into fat storage at night.

• Could Cause Migraines– Hypoglycemia is the medical term used to indicate low levels of blood sugar. Skipping meals trigger a massive dip in sugar levels, in turn, triggering the release of hormones that could compensate for the low glucose levels. On the other hand, increases blood pressure levels, triggering migraines and headaches. The incidence is higher when you skip breakfast, as it is the first meal of the day you are consuming after nearly 12 hours of fasting. So, if you want to keep those headaches away, do ensure that you eat your breakfast. Will your car ever start if there is no fuel? No, right? Similarly, you need breakfast to give your metabolism a jump start. It is the first meal of the day you are feeding your body with, after its rest for about 12 hours. According to various studies conducted on the importance of breakfast, people who eat this meal have a higher level of resting metabolism.

·        Bad for Your Heart

Triggers Hair Loss- One of the major side effects of skipping breakfast results is hair loss. Yes, a meal that contains dangerously low levels of protein could affect the levels of keratin, averting hair growth and triggering hair loss. Breakfast is the quintessential meal of any day and has a major role in promoting the growth of hair follicles. So, if you wish to enjoy lush, strong hair with zero hair fall, then you ought to indulge in a protein-rich breakfast daily.

Worsens Hangover-It is perfectly fine if you overdid on your alcohol consumption the previous night. You can use a nourishing breakfast to ward off your hangover. A healthy breakfast rich in iron, folate, and other minerals and vitamins will help your body to compensate for the lost nutrients. It will also kick up your energy levels. Skipping breakfast could worsen the hangover by bringing down the sugar levels, inviting headaches and nausea. So, just have a healthy breakfast to overcome your hangover.

·        Higher risk of type-2 Diabetes

• Skipping breakfast may affect the genes involved in the circadian clock and metabolism and leads to elevating postprandial sugars. However, quality research is warranted in this regard.
• Even worse, working women who skipped their morning meals had 54% more chances of developing.
• Skipping Breakfast Might Cause Weight Gain.
• Negative Impact On Mood (Bad Mood) and Energy Levels
• Risk Of Cancer- Skipping breakfast can make you overindulge in food during the day time. This in turn paves the way for the increased prevalence of obesity, person who is overweight or obese has an increased risk of developing cancer.
• Affects Cognitive Functioning– The finding Inclusion of breakfast gives the cognitive function a boost. While the study was conducted on adolescents, it can easily be extended to adults too.

If you are on a weight loss regimen and have the habit of skipping breakfast, give it a second thought now. According to the studies conducted on the negative impacts of not eating breakfast, people who miss the morning meal had higher chances of gaining weight, quite contrary to your slimming goal. Are you confused? Just read on. Those who skip breakfast tend to consume more calories, saturated fat, and simple sugars during lunch and dinner.

Dominique Andreoli, MS, a nutritionist, says, “Skipping breakfast can disrupt hormone levels, including the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, which can lead to overeating later in the day. Additionally, skipping breakfast will raise the stress hormone, cortisol.”

Which meal is best to skip?

Study also suggests that skipping breakfast or dinner might help people lose weight, since they burned more calories on those days. Dominique Andreoli says that the elevated levels of inflammation noted after lunch “could be a problem,” and adds that the finding warrants further research.

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