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You
must have heard this popular saying times without number: eat like a
King in the morning, eat like a chief in the afternoon and eat like a
beggar in the evening. But not many people predicate their dietary
habits on this truism. In fact, if you ask 10 people -young and
old-whether they eat breakfast or not, not less than seven will tell you
they do not eat in the morning. The reasons for missing the first meal
of the day vary. Some will tell you the idea of not eating breakfast is
an age-long practice and that they are okay with it, while others may
say they do not have appetite to eat anything in the morning or that a
cup of coffee/tea is the only thing their system can accommodate in the
morning.
Perhaps if people know that breakfast is
the most important meal of the day to promote health and healing, they
will not skip it. After eight hours of sleep, which is akin to fast,
there is need to break the fast (breakfast) because the brain needs fuel
to kickstart your day. The morning meal supplies the fuel, which
includes glucose, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.
Lacking a full complement of such nutrients on daily basis due to lack
of breakfast can prevent production of neurotransmitters essential for
controlling electrical signals in the brain. Not eating breakfast also
means lack of dopamine, which is important for movement, memory,
norepinephine – a stress hormone that controls attention and impulsivity
as well as serotonin that aids emotional regulation.
But in the absence of breakfast, the
brain finds another source of fuel by activating an emergency system
that pulls energy from muscles destroying muscle tissues in the process.
This is a sort of in-built fire-brigade approach to keep the brain
running especially when we are fasting. But when skipping breakfast
becomes a daily routine, the emergency fuel supply system causes other
damages aside destroying muscles. These include constant release of
stress hormones, weakening of adrenal glands and depletion of HDEA and
other key hormones governing metabolism and other body systems.
In other words, skipping breakfast means
running the brain on reserve fuel, which is tantamount to
undernourishment of its cells. And when the brain cells are not well
nourished, the whole body suffers. How? The brain controls all organ
systems in the body. As a matter of fact, several studies have linked
the genesis of many common ailments to skipping of breakfast.
A study published in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicated that those who regularly skipped
breakfast had higher risk of type 2 diabetes. The researchers followed
29,000 men for 16 years, tracking their diets, exercise, disease rates
and the other markers of health. About 2,000 of the men developed type 2
diabetes over the course of the study. Other studies have also found
that people who skip breakfast also gain weight, which is a risk factor
for many life-threatening diseases.
While it is not healthy to skip
breakfast, the quantity and quality of what we eat in the morning is
also of equal importance to our health and vitality. For instance, a
study group led by Dr. Mark Pereira, MD found that those who tuck in to a
healthy breakfast and therefore end up with a higher calorie intake –
still tend to have a lower body mass index BMI than those who skip the
first meal of the day. Dr Pereira added: “our study clearly supports
what other studies have shown: people who skip breakfast tend to gain
more weight and therefore would be at higher risk for obesity”.
Another study of 94 obese, sedentary
women with metabolic syndrome, half were told to eat the big breakfast
diet containing about 1,240 calories, while the other half ate a 1,085
calories high-protein, low carbohydrate diet for eight months. At the
end of eight months, those on the restrictive low carbohydrate diet lost
an average of nine pounds. But those on the big breakfast diet lost
nearly 40 pounds. Additionally, those that ate big breakfast reported
feeling less hungry and had stable blood sugar levels. The study data
were presented at Endocrine Society annual meeting in San Francisco, USA
by the lead author, Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, a clinical professor at
Virginia Commonwealth University, Caracas, Venezuela.
Another study of 7,000 middle-aged
adults in Norfolk revealed that those who ate the most in the morning
put the least amount of weight overall.
Skipping breakfast can also cause poor
academic performance in schools and poor memory for adults. According to
some studies, children who consume breakfast do well in school compared
to those that do not. The researchers noted that starting the day with
breakfast does not only increase their energy levels, but also help
improve their concentration in the class. According to United States
Department of Agriculture USDA, healthy breakfast improves academic
performance, alertness and attention.
A cup of coffee is all many people take
as breakfast. Yet, taking only coffee as the first meal of the day is as
damaging to the body as skipping breakfast entirely. Given the studies
validated the truism that opened this piece (eat like a King in the
morning) breakfast must be the biggest meal of the day. But when people
looking for solutions to their health challenges are confronted with
this fact in my office, the common response is that, it is not possible
given the nature of their jobs. And how do I react to this fallacy?
Eating biggest balanced meal in the morning is a natural law of
nutrition. And since nature cannot bend its law for anybody, it is
incumbent on the sick to find a way to comply with this natural law in
order to promote health and healing.
TIPS
• Skipping breakfast impairs brain powers & functions
• Skipping breakfast weakens adrenal gland & immune system
• Skipping breakfast accelerates aging process
• Skipping breakfast promotes weight gain
• Skipping breakfast weakens the body resistance to stress
• Skipping breakfast increases the risk of type 2 diabetes
Your health should take higher priority than your wealth!
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