(5 min read)
Waking up at ten and realizing that you are late for class or work, you quickly dress up and rush to your destination — sounds familiar? Many of us have skipped breakfast at least once per year, possibly for different reasons, like having no time, feeling tired, or just not having the appetite.
As you might have already heard, breakfast is actually the most important meal of the day. The word, breakfast, means “break the fast” through the night. The rich content of complex carbohydrates in breakfast food, such as grains and whole grain breads, can give you that morning energy boost and help regulate your blood sugar levels. The brain needs glucose for fuel and to function efficiently; in fact, breakfast consumption is highly associated with an improved cognitive activity. There is a large volume of research focused on the influence of breakfast towards human brain functions – they have found that breakfast not only increases work efficiency in the late morning but also develops a higher IQ and increases both short- and long-term memories, which contributes to a better learning experience for students.
You might not want to skip breakfast if you hope to maintain a healthy weight!Contradictory to the social belief that “eating less is associated with weight loss”, skipping breakfast has been linked to becoming overweight. It might seem odd, but skipping breakfast is related to having a lower metabolism and thus lower energy expenditure. Not having breakfast has also been discovered to impact your food choices. Some studies have indicated that irregular breakfast-eaters tend to have lower fruits and vegetables intake as well as the tendency of making poor food choices throughout the day. Following disordered eating patterns can negatively impact your health physically and mentally — you might end up gaining unnecessary weights from overeating at lunch and feeling tired and sluggish for the rest of your day.
It is never too late to make a change — set a goal and make eating breakfast a positive change in your life!