The Benefits of Breakfast

Feb24
by admin on February 24, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Posted In: Nutrition

So you’re at work, and it is 10am. Maybe you’re not feeling too well, or you just don’t have any energy at all and you’re complaining about it to your coworker. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found one of the first questions asked is, “well did you eat breakfast?” Usually followed up with, “well what did you have?”

It’s clear most people know breakfast is important and know what you have for breakfast is important- but do you know why? Or what the actual “good breakfast foods” are?

For starters, breakfast is important because it gets your metabolism going and sets you day up for success or failure. If you are not eating breakfast or not eating a good breakfast, you’ll find yourself with less energy and craving sugary foods or carbohydrates.

If your breakfast consists of simple carbohydrates and/or refined sugars (a piece of white bread with jelly, a bagel, donut, cereal, fruit juice, etc), it’s only going to hold you over for TEN MINUTES. Then you’ll find yourself looking for food all over again! When you eat simple carbs or refined sugars it gives you a “surge” of blood sugar levels. When this happens, your body produces a lot of extra insulin. (Insulin takes sugar out of the blood and stores it. The sugar is mostly stored in the fat tissue- so as a result of the simple carb/sugar breakfast, you’re producing extra insulin which means you’re storing much more sugar as fat). When this happens, you end up “craving” more carbs. The cycle will then repeat itself 2-3 more times a day!

If you are skipping out on breakfast, your blood sugar drops below the normal level and you end up with decreased energy and cravings for carbs. By the time you do eat, you’re usually starving and ready to mow down on whatever you can find. I know this isn’t with all cases, but it is with most. The cycle we talked about in the paragraph above will happen when you are skipping out on breakfast too!

So what is a “good” breakfast?

It’s one that consists of complex carbohydrates (whole grains, vegetables, and fruit) and lean protein (eggs, soy products, etc). A breakfast that combines these two elements will hold you over for 3+ hours- aka fewer cravings, less, snacking, less weight gain. It is important that you eat a breakfast that supplies your body with all the vital nutrients and energy you need to power you through the day. When you are selecting this type of a breakfast, your body will actually start using your stored fat for energy, opposed to the other breakfasts which are increasing your “fat storage”.

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