What is Breakfast?

It is the 1st meal of the day, which breaks the overnight “fast” between the supper and early morning (this “fast” may be anything between 10 – 12 hours) Often we do not wake up feeling hungry or wanting to eat breakfast but this does not mean that your body does not need food to “start the day”. We often train our brains and bodies not to expect food in the morning.

If we skip breakfast, we are likely to become tired when our brains and bodies run low on “fuel”. By mid-morning, a lot of us grab a cup of coffee and a sugary snack to wake up again.

This might work for a few minutes, but by lunch time we are hungry, crabby, and perhaps our mood might make us a little more prone to making unhealthy choices at lunch. Eating a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. If the body does not have breakfast, it tries to preserve energy as a protection mechanism as it has to use reserves to supply energy to the body. It gears up to go in to a “fasting” state where it holds back on its reserves as it does not know how long it will have to use the reserves.
 
Skipping breakfast makes the body a little slower, less energetic, less able to concentrate and could even influence your mood leaving you irritable. Once the body receives food, it receives the energy it needs which then supplies the body and brain with the energy it needs to function optimally.