3 Reasons You Should Always Eat Breakfast

Are you a breakfast eater or a skipper? According to research, 31 million Americans choose to skip the first meal of the day. But does this habit make a difference to your health? I believe it does, and I’ll tell you why.    

This topic has been hotly contested in the nutrition world. On the face of it, the research is conflicting.

Those who prescribe to the benefits of time restricted eating (a form of intermittent fasting) will argue that is doesn’t matter when you take in your calories as long as it’s within a specific ‘eating window’. That can vary widely depending on your goals, but is typically between 6-10 hours.

The other proponents of skipping breakfast fall into the calorie restriction camp. This is largely to drive weight loss, as opposed to overall metabolic health. We know that restricting calories in the short term will lead to weight loss, as any yo-yo dieter will tell you, this tends to not be sustainable in the long run. We need adequate calories to maintain our metabolic rate and build lean muscle, otherwise our metabolisms will slow down.

That said, here are just 3 reasons why I (and the research) think eating breakfast is important for health, and specifically healthy weight management.

1.   You burn more calories in the morning

Our bodies have evolved over millions of years to efficiently use the energy from the food we eat. Without the ability to use this energy, we wouldn’t have enough fuel to move our muscles and survive. This fine balancing act has been built around our biological clock, or circadian rhythm. This is a set of bodily processes that are dictated by the time of day. 

Some studies show that our bodies burn more calories from food in the morning compared to the evening. Early in the day, our bodies store extra glucose in our muscles as glycogen. This process is very calorie intensive and ensures that we have enough energy in our muscles to be active during the day. In the evening, our bodies are preparing to sleep. Less glucose gets converted into glycogen and less calories are burned. The result?  More energy gets turned into adipose tissue, aka fat.

2. A high protein breakfast makes you less likely to overeat later in the day

Depriving ourselves of food in the morning can lead to over- indulging at mealtimes later in the day, especially in obese individuals. This is linked with our satiety and hunger signals which are influenced by hormones and blood sugar. In the morning, our muscles are more sensitive to insulin, a hormone that allows glucose to be taken up into cells from our bloodstream. Our muscles become more resistant to the effect of insulin later in the day, leading to larger fluctuations in blood sugar. Skipping breakfast tends to lower our blood sugar levels overall, stimulating hunger hormones, and increasing our appetite at future meals. Eating more in the morning, or ‘front loading’ our calories earlier in the day can be an effective way to help with weight management and blood sugar level control.

3. You’ll get more out of your workout

Together with diet, staying active is essential for our health. Recommendations suggest at least 30 mins of moderate to vigorous exercise every day for weight maintenance and more for weight loss (up to 60 mins). Consuming a healthy breakfast within two hours of waking will ensure your body has enough energy, in the form of glucose, to power our muscles and get the most out of our workouts. Alongside cardio workouts (running, cycling, rowing, swimming), it is also important to incorporate some resistance/ strength training into your exercise regimen. Muscles are very metabolically active (in other words, they burn a lot of calories) and increasing our lean muscle mass, at the same time as burning fat, will ensure that we continue to burn calories after our workout and reduce the chance of regaining weight. 

Inspired to start eating breakfast?

Try out some of these healthy options to get you started.