Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day. We are often advised not to skip our breakfast as it means breaking the fast of sleep. But is there a scientific explanation behind it? Also, is it beneficial for us?
Central Health Medical Practice's accredited dietician Denise Fair from Hong Kong said that breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. It helps you wake up and make your metabolism work.
"After you have been sleeping, your body has used up all the nutrients eaten before going to bed," Fair told the South China Morning Post. "So it is looking for fuel to get started again."
There are studies that prove having a healthy breakfast is good for the brain. It also helps improve memory and concentration and reduced stress. It, too, aids children's attention span and ability to learn.
There are also studies that say regularly eating your breakfast in the long-term can help reduce the risks of "obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes." It can even aid your journey to lose weight.
WebMD reported research shows eating breakfast is beneficial for everyone. It proves that it controls blood sugar as it can keep it stable throughout the day, whether you have diabetes or not.
Eating breakfast helps people with normal glucose to avoid insulin resistance that leads to diabetes. It is also important to maintain your blood sugar as it can affect your mood if it drops. It can also make you grumpy, angry, or nervous.
Osama Hamdy, MD, Ph.D., from Joslin Diabetes Center, on the other hand, advised people with diabetes not to skip breakfast. If they miss the most important meal of the day, it is more likely that they will get low sugar or hypoglycemia.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology noted in 2017 that people who don't eat breakfast are also likely to develop heart problems. One of those is atherosclerosis, which narrows and hardens your arteries with the buildup of plaque. It can even lead to heart attack and stroke.
Skipping breakfast can also make you gain weight, give you bigger waistline, and higher blood pressure or cholesterol.
The medical website explains that these risks have something to do with higher blood sugar that will eventually lead to a higher risk of heart problems. Skipping breakfast will also give you an adequate amount of the daily fiber you need. Although eating breakfast may not quickly solve these issues, it is a good start to resolve these problems.
