The alarm goes off and there you are – rushing around preparing for a busy day ahead. Whether you have children to get ready for school, or papers to read for a morning meeting, by the time you finally put on your shoes, you are already exhausted – sound familiar?
So, it’s no wonder so many women end up skipping breakfast and just grabbing coffee on the way. But there are so many reasons why this habit is really bad for our health.
Start Your Day Right
When you wake up in the morning, your body has had no fuel since your evening meal the night before. That could be up to 12 hours beforehand – so your body is in starvation. In fact, “break” “fast” literally means the meal which breaks the fast you have been on while sleeping.
According to nutritionists, a healthy breakfast should give you around 30% of your daily calorie requirements. It provides us with energy, protein, calcium, iron, fiber and B vitamins which are all needed to get you through the day. If your body doesn’t receive these first thing, studies have shown your body is less effective at taking them on during the rest of the day.
How Eating Breakfast Helps You Lose Weight
If you skip breakfast you are not providing your body with what it needs for energy and you will soon get hungry and are more likely to then reach for high sugar, high fat snacks, to compensate. People who skip breakfast tend to end up reaching for the snacks around 10am which doesn’t help if you are trying to lose weight.
Eating breakfast can help to jumpstart your digestive system. Consumer Reports agrees with the benefits of breakfast, stating, “Eating within 2 hours of waking can make a difference in the way you metabolize glucose, or blood sugar, all day. Your glucose level rises every time you eat, and your pancreas produces insulin to shuttle the glucose into your cells, where it’s used for energy. Research is finding that keeping glucose and insulin in the right balance has important effects on metabolism and health.”
Eating a healthy breakfast can refuel your body, and help you to eat less later in the day. When you skip breakfast, you are more likely to overeat later in the day. Consuming a healthy balance of carbohydrates, fat, and protein can fill you up, and satisfy your hunger.
In a study it was revealed that people who not only ate breakfast, but made it their largest meal, lost almost 18 pounds over a three-month period. The other people, who took part in the study, eating the same calories during the day but most of these for their evening meal, lost only around seven pounds. This study was published in Obesity.
Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
Breakfast brings many health benefits, besides weight loss – providing more reasons why it really is important not to skip this meal.
Brain Function
Studies show that children who eat breakfast do better at school as they are better able to concentrate and behave well. If it has this benefit for our children, then it will do the same for us. Breakfast helps to restore the levels of glucose which help with our brain function. This helps to improve memory, concentration and mood, and to lowers stress levels. We all know that feeling of anger that rises when we are hungry. Breakfast can help with that.
Energy Supply
Breakfast is the first supply of energy your body receives when you wake up, making it part of your daily required calorie intake. A good nutritious breakfast will give you all the energy you need to take you through to lunchtime and should be around 300 calories as a rule. If you think about the energy you burn, you need the most in the morning and you need the least in the evening, when you are more likely to be sat on the sofa relaxing. Make breakfast your energy priority.
Diabetes
In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a published study revealed that not eating breakfast could increase the risk of diabetes for women. The study showed that women who did eat breakfast between no, and six times a week, were at far higher risk of developing the disease than those who ate it daily.
Fab Ideas for Quick and Nutritious Breakfasts for Busy Women
Knowing you need to eat breakfast, doesn’t mean you suddenly gain time in the morning to start preparing and making amazing morning meals does it? That’s why I am giving you five yummy and healthy breakfasts that are super simple and quick to make.
Protein Power Smoothie
INGREDIENTS [Serves 1]
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 scoop plant protein powder
½ banana
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup frozen blueberries
Blend and enjoy!
Creamy Avocado Toast
INGREDIENTS [Serves 1]
2 slices of whole wheat bread (toasted)
1 avocado
1 boiled egg (optional)
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Hint of red pepper flakes
Mash the avocado onto toasted bread, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, if desired top with sliced boiled egg and then sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes.
Non-Dairy Apple Parfait
INGREDIENTS [Serves 2]
½ cup soaked raw cashews (soak at least 20 minutes)
½ cup unsweetened almond (or coconut) milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped apple
1/3 cup rolled gluten-free oats (no need to cook these!)
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
Combine cashews, milk and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth. Layer ingredients in a small cup: Dollop of cream, spoonful of apples, top with oats and hemp seeds and enjoy! (PS: you can do this the night before and store in a small mason jar!)
Quinoa Morning Porridge
1 15oz can of coconut milk (Native Forest, full fat)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon hemp seeds
Combine all ingredients except hemp seeds and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with hemp seeds. Enjoy!
Overnight Oats
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 medium banana
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup blueberries, strawberries etc.
1-2 Tablespoon maple syrup
¼ teaspoon vanilla
pinch cinnamon
Before you go to bed at night, mix together oats, almond milk (or other milk of your choice), chia seeds, maple syrup and vanilla and let them soak in a jar overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning add fruits and nuts to taste. Enjoy!
So, my dear friend, no matter how busy your lifestyle gets, with so many simple and yummy options to fuel your body and boost your mood and energy, while keeping pounds and inches at bay, I hope breakfast makes a way into your daily routine. It will make you will love the way you look and the way you feel ?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely have a hearty breakfast
before I do anything.
Mayer Hawthorne
References:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/most-important-meal#1
http://www.livescience.com/39598-reasons-never-skip-breakfast.html
http://www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/why-is-breakfast-important