Have you ever skipped breakfast? Do you know that skipping of this morning meal often could be the reason that your Body Mass Index (BMI) and your Waist Circumference (WC) are rising despite some efforts to bring them down?
This article looks at research results that highlighted the role your breakfast plays in how you look and we will touch on the perfect kind of breakfast.
Breakfast is largely considered unique among meals and that is from a physiological perspective.
This much importance placed on this meal is because it is the first meal we eat after our postprandial fast (that is; fast while you sleep).
Dating back to the Greek and Roman breakfasts (ariston and Ientaculum respectively), breakfast is the least demanding of our meals in culinary terms.
This is because it consisted for centuries as a simple meal of bread, cheese, honey, oil and maybe wine.
Basically, it was a meal characterised by convenience since none of these ingredients mentioned above required preparation or further cooking.
In that era, convenience was important for early risers who had to attend crops and livestock and it was also important for those who had to travel distances after rising.
However, in our day and time, different studies have zeroed in on what this meal really is, what it should consist to ensure it gives the necessary nutrition to the eater.
Breakfast is meant to jumpstart your metabolism in a way that it would help you burn more calories throughout the day.
It has been frequently stated that breakfast deserves special attention, because it is a very important meal.
Consequence Of Skipping Breakfast
A study conducted in 2017 in Japan found that “skipping breakfast was closely associated with annual changes in BMI and WC among men, and eating breakfast more than four times per week may prevent the excessive body weight gain associated with skipping breakfast” (1).
Different studies have identified different benefits of starting your day with breakfast.
More so, there are other consequences of skipping this meal which were also mentioned in (2).
Breakfast has been found to affect more than just weight. Skipping morning meals has been associated with a 27% increased risk of heart disease, a 21% higher risk of type 2 diabetes in men, and a 20% higher risk of type 2 diabetes in women.
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Also skipping morning meals could trigger some habits like smoking, alcohol drinking and a more sedentary lifestyle.
The last is one that is common among Nigerians who do 9 to 5 jobs.
Often times, majority of them sit through work and forget to eat breakfast.
However, having breakfast will help in these areas and make you live a healthier life.
1. Lower Body Mass Index. A 2011 study conducted in Greece concluded “that breakfast skipping can be part of a constellation of several unhealthy lifestyle parameters and is related to higher BMI in Greek adolescents” (3).
2. Consuming less fat through the day
3. Meeting recommended amount of fruit and vegetables consumption
4. Having higher daily calcium intake
5. Having higher daily fibre intake
6. Having better performance. Helps for memory and attention for children of school age.
What Is Ideal?
Eating breakfast sometimes should be based on your health need and goal.
There is a kind of morning meal that someone who wants to lose weight should eat and this is often also different from that of someone that is diabetic.
Your health need determines what you eat in the morning, but there is a general rule about what your breakfast should be.
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Anyone that just intends to follow the recommended breakfast that promotes good health should consider these.
Basically, the first thing you have to do is listening to your body.
There are some persons that wake up with hunger while others do not feel the need to eat.
However, if you need to eat to health, getting a balanced morning meal is one thing to do.
Make sure that your morning meal contains fibre-rich foods that are packed with nutrients that your body needs.
Oats, blended grains, porridge, and more are great for morning meals.
Again, spicing your meal up with vegetables also helps to ensure proper digestion.
However, your morning meal should not be the only meal that should get all the attention. Also consider what you eat at other times.
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