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Breakfast – The Most Important Meal

You get up at 6:30, throw a bowl of cereal at the kids, or better yet a toaster treat, and get them on the bus to school, shower, dress and you’re out the door, ready to take on the challenges of a new day at the office by the time you arrive at 9. But are you? Think maybe you forgot something? How about breakfast?

Hard to believe that roughly 96% of people in a recent survey admitted that eating breakfast is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle, when their actual behavior demonstrates an entirely different story. Generally, most people have no consistency in their breakfast–eating habits. Some eat on weekends, but not during the week, some eat it on the fly (on their way to work, in work, or running out the door) and many skip it altogether, demonstrating behavior that doesn’t fall in line with how they actually know.

After about 12 hours of fasting, your body needs some energy to switch gears from “park” into “drive.” A nutritious breakfast gets your metabolism fired up and working and helps with the dip in blood sugar levels that can make you crave sweets mid-morning and reach for a sugary, high-calorie snack.

People who eat a nutritious breakfast are prone to be leaner and more energetic, have a reduced risk for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease, and have better concentration when performing job or school-related tasks.

What does a nutritious breakfast include? Generally, one that includes some type of fruit or fruit juice, a fiber source (such as whole grain bread or cereal), and protein (eggs, yogurt, soy) is a good start.

If you are normally a breakfast “skipper,” you may want to try eating breakfast for a few days and see how you feel. You may notice that you don’t get that mid-morning slump and that your whole day seems better somehow. It might actually make a believer out of you when you hear that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!