Why is breakfast the most important meal

Learn why you should never skip breakfast

Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

As the name suggests, breakfast breaks your overnight fast! Its most important role is to replenish your supply of glucose which is necessary for energy and alertness, whilst also providing you with essential nutrients for good health.

Breakfast and energy

The body’s main energy source is glucose. We get glucose from the foods that we eat and any excess that we don’t use is stored as glycogen in our liver. When we are fasting, such as overnight when we are asleep, the liver breaks down glycogen to keep our bodies supplied with energy so that it can survive.

When we wake up in the morning, these glycogen stores are depleted and its important that we replace them so that we have enough energy to keep going throughout the day!

Breakfast and weight control

Although skipping breakfast might make you feel like you’re reducing your overall daily calories, research has shown that people who regularly eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight or obese. Although the research hasn’t conclusively discovered why, there are a few speculations:

• It prevents large fluctuations in your blood sugar levels which are important regulators of appetite
• It prevents you from eating discretionary foods throughout the morning

How can I make myself hungrier in the morning

Many of us just don’t feel hungry in the morning and hate the idea of eating breakfast. If you are one of these people, you might like to try:

• Reducing the size of your meals in the evening to make you hungrier!
• Investigating some new recipes to make breakfast fun again!
• Switching your breakfast time to a morning tea or mid-morning snack.

SOURCE: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/breakfast