Loving your breakfast

Health experts have been telling us for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but do you know why it’s so essential to kick start your day with a nutritious meal?

Naturally, as someone who makes wholefood cereals, I’m a strong advocate for eating a good breakfast, but looking at the research that shows the benefits of this healthy habit should turn everyone into a convert.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study on what really happens in the body when people skip breakfast regularly, and the researchers found that it may increase dangerous inflammation. The big issue with that is that chronic inflammation is known to affect insulin sensitivity, so skipping breakfast could contribute to “metabolic impairment,” potentially raising the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. In fact, an earlier study from Harvard found that women who regularly didn't eat breakfast had a 20 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

And breakfast is not just for the fairer sex – Harvard researchers also discovered that men who skipped the first meal of the day had a 27 per cent greater risk of heart attack or heart disease than those who dug in.

Avoiding diabetes or a heart attack is a pretty powerful argument for taking the time to enjoy a delicious bowl of muesli each morning, but there are plenty more benefits to eating breakfast.

Food is fuel for our bodies and our brains - if you want to stay mentally sharp, you need nourishment from the time you get up. Studies have shown that eating breakfast is associated with better memory, concentration, learning, and creativity. In fact, when children eat a balanced breakfast, they perform better academically. It stands to reason that adults who do the same will cope much better with their busy day.

It will boost your physical energy and wellbeing – heathy breakfast foods are a great source of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins, as well as protein and fibre.

And it will help you maintain a healthy weight. Hands up if you have skipped breakfast on a morning you are running late, then ended up eating a pastry or a muffin mid-morning? People who miss breakfast might think they are cutting down on calories but they often end up eating more by bingeing later in the day or mindless snacking.

A study that tracked a group of people who lost weight and kept it off for a year found 78 per cent reported eating breakfast every day, and almost 90 per cent reported eating breakfast at least five days a week, which suggests eating breakfast is a great strategy for losing weight and keeping it off.