Why Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

We’ve all heard the old expression that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But have you ever wondered why breakfast is the most important meal of the day? I always used to wonder myself until I went on a diet to lose the weight I gained when I quit smoking.

As the name suggests, breakfast is when we ‘break our fast’, in other words, it’s the time when we first consume food after a long period of not eating.

Our metabolism slows down the longer we go without food. If we starve ourselves it doesn’t help with weight loss because our body starts conserving energy and burning calories slower to preserve itself. During periods of sleep our calorie consumption reduces to around one calorie per minute compared to the minimum ‘at rest’ consumption during the day of around 1.5 calories per minute.

Eating breakfast kick starts our metabolism and gets it burning calories at a faster rate. If we don’t eat till two or three hours after we get up then our metabolism is running at the lower rate for longer.

In addition, as weird as it sounds I have discovered from personal experience that eating breakfast actually REDUCES my overall calorie intake for the day. I suppose it is logical when I think about it. If I skip breakfast, when I get hungry several hours later I am REALLY hungry and I tend to either overeat or eat the wrong types of food because my body starts craving high energy foods to combat the dwindling blood sugar levels. However, if I eat a banana or a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, then my blood sugar levels don’t drop, I don’t crave the wrong foods and I don’t overeat.

Let’s take a look at the math:

If I skip breakfast then it reduces my early calorie consumption by 120 calories. However, then I have around 80 calories for morning tea (a piece of fruit or snack bar) and when lunch time arrives I am super hungry and I will consume my normal lunch of around 350 calories plus a couple of donuts or chocolate which increases my calorie consumption up to around 600 calories.

On the other hand, if I eat a breakfast of oatmeal with 120 calories followed a couple of hours later by morning tea of around 80 calories, when I have lunch I am satisfied with 350 calories.

Breakfast: 120+80+ 350=550 calories.
No breakfast: 80+ 600=680 calories

If you were on a diet, which calorie intake would you prefer? 550 or 680? Which would help you lose more weight?

So in summary, eating breakfast;

• Increases your metabolism
• Helps stop cravings for high energy foods
• Reduces overeating

So have a healthy breakfast every day to increase your metabolism and improve your weight loss results now you understand why breakfast is the most important meal of the day!