Summary: After a night’s sleep, your body has been without food for between 8-12 hours. Your tank is empty and that’s why breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
When your car’s fuel tank is running on empty, what do you do? You find a petrol station before it is too late…you do not want to run out of fuel and get stranded. Right? So why do you skip breakfast?
So here is the technical reasons to answer the question
why is breakfast the most important meal of the day
After a typical night of sleeping most adults are in a fasted state in the range of 8-12 hours. Depending on when you last ate, it may be even longer. At this point, the body has not yet entered a starvation mode but metabolic pathways have shifted to use endogenous sources of fuel (from within the body) instead of exogenous sources of energy (from the foods we eat). This means that instead of absorbing and using energy from carbohydrates, fats, and protein in our diet, we are turning to stored glycogen and fat instead.
In this fasted state, blood glucose levels are lower than usual so insulin is less active and glucagon is more active. Glycogen from the liver is being broken down, but at this point the body’s fuel tank is close to running on empty and we need to eat a meal to fill the tank again. At this point, glucose absorbed from a meal is directed to the organs that need it most. So don’t be concerned that carbohydrates consumed at breakfast move straight to storage. They’re playing an important role to replenish the energy needed for critical organs like our brain, muscle, and kidneys.
A fasted state can occur anytime you go an extended period of time without eating anything, so for this reason, breakfast is no more or no less important than any other meal of the day, except for the fact that when you wake up, you are already in this fasted state. Breakfast, lunch, dinner – skipping any of the three can impact your energy and mood, as well as throwing off the delicate balance our bodies strive to maintain. Skipping breakfast is the worst of them all.
Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? The Benefits of eating breakfast says it all:
Research in humans has shown that people who eat breakfast report better concentration and mood, and students who eat breakfast regularly perform better in school. Studies have also shown that eating breakfast does not lead to higher calorie intake for the rest of the day, and can actually prevent us from overeating at later meals. There are several theories as to why this happens, but the main takeaway message is that there are numerous benefits for eating a meal shortly after waking up.
To find out why skipping breakfast can cause you to GAIN weight and LOSE muscle, read on…
Why is Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day: The Simple Science of Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We hear it all of the time, but why is it so important? Here is the simple science behind the adage.
After a meal, the food is broken down into it basic parts: proteins, fats and carbohydrates (sugars). These parts will either be used to run the body right away, preferably sugar in the form of glucose, or they will be stored for later.
After a meal, there is plenty of glucose in the blood. Most of the glucose will be taken up into cells where it will be utilized to power all of the reactions necessary for life. Some of that glucose is gets into liver cells where it is linked one after the other to form very long strands and stored. These strands are called glycogen. Cells will use blood sugar first and then go to the liver glycogen as back up when blood sugar gets low. When the glycogen is gone, the body’s cellular processes (metabolism) begin to slow. They have to, there is no fuel there to power the reactions. Symptoms of low blood sugar ensue: fatigue, foggy headedness, loss of motor control, and nausea. The body can only go so long in this slow state and when it absolutely needs more fuel, the body begins to breakdown muscle for energy. Not fat, muscle.
Fat is a storage molecule and as such, isn’t that easy to break apart. Muscles are made of proteins, which are relatively easy to break down. If the body is out of glucose and looking for fuel RIGHT NOW, it is going to go to the place that will supply it the fastest, which is muscle, no matter how much fat you have.
Now you know. Skipping breakfast will not help you lose fat, but it can make you dizzy, unable to focus, cranky, lose muscle and prone to unhealthy snacking. Which seems easier, cracking open a hard-boiled egg or trying to make it through the day with shrinking muscles and a bad attitude? Feel better. Be healthy. Eat breakfast.
In a nutshell – this is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day
1. Having breakfast has proven to deliver higher concentration levels, faster and clearer decision making and less irritability throughout the day, just to get us started! Often hunger is purely associated with a rumbling stomach or the desire to eat something. Both of these are actually only very small sign of hunger. Once you get past that point, which can happen through the night, you are unlikely to “feel” hungry. However, you body is in desperate need for nutrition and fuel in order to help it undertake all the demanding tasks placed on it throughout the morning. If you do not provide this necessary fuel, you are very likely to experience fatigue, lack of concentrate and irritability!
2. It stops you eating more throughout the day. When you skip breakfast, by mid morning I am pretty certain you will be looking for a snack and it is likely to be sugary one because you are feeling tired (see point above). If you do take a mid morning snack, and it is a sugary treat, then you have kick started a sugar burst cycle, where you feel great, until the sugar wears off and your body demands more. Subsequently, you increase your food intake and worse yet, your sugar intake throughout the rest of the day, to feed these cravings. Eat a good breakfast and your blood sugar levels start the day neutral, reducing hunger and sugar pangs throughout the rest of the day.
3. Having the correct breakfast is vital! Do NOT start the day with cereal, toast, any form of cereal bar or “breakfast” biscuit!! Despite all their “healthy” claims they are FULL of sugar and therefore put you in the sugar craving cycle right from the start of the day. I have no doubt that you feel full straight after eating them, but I would ask you to monitor how quickly you feel hungry and how much sugar you crave all day after consuming them.
4. To start the day, you have to break with tradition. ANY FOOD can be eaten for any meal. A traditional breakfast has been manufactured by large companies to make you eat what they want you to eat. Ideally, you should start the day with protein, fat and good carbs. That includes eggs, oats (oatcakes), nuts, seeds, meat, fish or chicken. That might sound mad to some of you, but once you break the other habits you will realise that actually any food is breakfast food. Who made those rules anyway!
What is the best food to eat for breakfast?
- Food high in good quality protein.
- Food high in complex carbohydrates.
- Food rich in fibre.
What food to avoid for breakfast?
- Food high in sugar.
- Food high in salt.
- Food rich in simple carbohydrates
We have known that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for years now, and since 1996 my wife and I decided to commit to eating the best breakfast we can afford.
We have been lied to for years and years by the food industry, producing breakfast serial after breakfast cerial that is filled with simple carbohydrates and truck loads of sugar. It’s like pouring hay on a raging fire. It produces short term energy, then it fizzles out and you are tired and hungry again.
The other big issue with breakfast is that some mornings are just crazy and we do not have time to prepare a proper balance meal for breakfast.
So in 1996, purely by accident, we got introduced to a nutrition supplement program that helps you to control your body weight by supplying it the cellular nutrition it needs, in perfect balance. In short, the perfect breakfast. Fast, quick to prepare, easy to make, taste delicious and it gives your body all the nutrients it needs to function at an optimum level. Needless to say, we never skip breakfast anymore!
Nutrition expert Susan Bowerman explains why it is that breakfast the most important meal of the day. Have a look…
Everybody, child and adult, should feed their bodies the best nutrition for breakfast. With this in mind, Herbalife has put together the perfect Breakfast Pack:
Herbalife Healthy Breakfast Pack
The Herbalife Healthy Breakfast Pack includes:
- Formula 1 Nutritional Shake (Low GI)
- Formula 2 Vitamins and Minerals
- Herbal Aloe Concentrate (sooth and cleanse the digestive system)
- Herbalife Instant Herbal Beverage for an energy boost
The villi in the digestive system needs constant cleaning to esure proper absorption of the nutrition you consume. That is why the Herbal Aloe Concentrate is so critical. Just pour a cap full in a glass of water. Delicious and refreshing.
Consider becoming a Herbalife Member today and buy your own Healthy Herbalife Breakfast direct, online at a discount.
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