Being that March is National Nutrition Awareness month, we thought we would take a closer look into the infamously dubbed “most important meal of the day”. And by breakfast, we don’t mean a leftover donut. We mean a healthy, well balanced, colorfully nutritious breakfast. We’ve compiled the following list of reasons a balanced breakfast is so important:

1. It will kick start your metabolism for the day – studies show that eating within the first two hours of waking can help your body better metabolize glucose all day
2. Eating breakfast stabilizes the body’s natural eat/fast rhythm by replenishing your blood-sugar which drops while you snooze
3. A healthy morning meal can keep you going all day – skip it and you will likely feel fatigued, possibly get a headache and start to crash before its even time for lunch
4. It is a great opportunity to sneak some of those essentials vitamins and minerals into your body so you won’t be scrambling to consume them later on
5. According to WebMD, “If you’re dieting, don’t think cutting calories by skipping the meal will help. Studies show that most people who lose weight and keep the weight off eat breakfast every day.”
6. If you skip breakfast, your body will produce more ghrelin, the body’s hunger hormone, which could cause you to overeat for the rest of the day
7. Perpetual breakfast-skipping can cause insulin resistance and has been linked to type 2 diabetes
8. Heart health – according to Consumer Reports, “a recent study that involved almost 27,000 men, researchers found that those who didn’t eat a morning meal were 27 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those who did.”
9. You’ll be more efficient at work than the person who skipped breakfast – studies have shown greater productivity and problem solving skills in those who always ate a healthy breakfast
10. A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that regular breakfast eaters to be more physically active than those who routinely skip the meal

The Benefits of Breakfast For Kids

Consuming a daily balanced breakfast of fruits, veggies, protein and/or whole grains is especially important for children because:

1. Growing bodies need more fuel than full grown ones, they also require more vitamins and minerals
2. Kids (and teenagers) who routinely skip the first meal of the day are more likely to become overweight and obese, as they tend to eat more junk food, and overeat during the day
3. Children who eat balanced breakfasts have more energy, are less tired and therefor perform better in school
4. Children who don’t eat breakfast show irritable moods, decreased attention span and appear more restless during class
5. Research suggests that kids who regularly eat a balanced morning meal do better in tests, non-academic subjects, and extra curricular activities (perhaps because of extra energy)

So there you have it! A multitude of reasons not to pass on a healthy morning munch! Thanks for visiting DocChat, we hope you’ll drop by again soon!