It's a well known phrase, but do we follow it ever?
During a busy morning, it's easy to let breakfast fall low in your list of priorities, but taking just a few minutes to have something to eat can really make a difference to your day. If you don't have time to eat before leaving the house, we have lots of breakfast ideas that can be eaten on-the-go or when you get to work.
Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast - that's where its name originates, breaking the fast! Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car with no petrol!
Nutritionists advise that breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking.
Apart from providing us with energy, breakfast foods are good sources of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins as well as protein and fibre. The body needs these essential nutrients and research shows that if these are missed at breakfast, they are less likely to be compensated for later in the day. Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals so try to include a portion of your daily five at breakfast, whether that be a banana or glass of fruit juice.
Breakfast can be good for waistline too, research shows those who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight and more likely to be within their ideal weight range compared with breakfast skippers. If you skip breakfast, you're more likely to reach for high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning.
Eating breakfast has long term health benefits. It can reduce obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Breakfast is an excellent occasion to eat together as a family when possible. Establishing good breakfast habits in childhood and maintaining them throughout adolescence may be an important factor in reducing the prevalence of breakfast skipping and developing good eating habits that last a lifetime.
So, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!
