Mom didn’t say that breakfast was the most important meal of the day for nothing. Eating a well-balanced and healthy breakfast is important for so many reasons:
- Eating breakfast may help you make better food decisions later in the day. It is easier to stay on track for a well-balanced and healthy diet if you start off your day that way.
- Breakfast gets your metabolism and brain going. Studies confirm that eating breakfast gives you a mental and physical advantage. When you start off your day, your body needs fuel. Glycogen stores start to deplete and if you haven’t had any food by lunch you’ll start to feel fatigued. You may begin to lose focus and concentration as well as the ability to think and problem-solve.
- Breakfast cleans out your mouth. As you sleep, your body settles into an energy reserve state. You are not producing much saliva and your mouth tends to get dry. Breakfast helps stimulate saliva flow to relieve dry mouth and rinse out any foreign particles in your teeth.
- Eating breakfast may make you healthier. Skipping breakfast has been linked to the development of obesity. Studies show that overweight and obese children, adolescents, and adults are less likely to break the nightly fast each morning than their thinner counterparts.
- Kids who eat breakfast perform better in school. Studies show that kids who skip breakfast are tardy and absent from school more often than children who eat breakfast on a regular basis.
Life often seems so busy that making time in the morning to have a nutritious meal seems daunting, but preparing a good breakfast can be as quick and easy as splashing some milk over whole-grain, low-sugar cereal. If you and/or your kids seem unable to make time for breakfast, consider enrolling your children in a school breakfast program or packing a breakfast brown-bag or smoothie the night before that can be eaten on the way to school and work. Also, be sure to check out our mouth-healthy recipes for breakfast ideas!
