This Is Why Breakfast Really Is The Most Important Meal Of The Day

1. It gives you energy for the day

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It's simple, really. After 10 hours (or more), you're body is empty, and you've run out of fuel. Imagine trying to go about your day while running on empty? It's not a good idea. Breakfast gives you the initial boost of energy you need for your body to function properly and do all the things you need it to do.

2. And kickstarts your metabolism

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Eating something in the morning will also start up your metabolism for the day. Metabolism is the process of your body converting food into energy, and it can't do that without any food-fuel. So, eating something within a couple of hours of waking up starts this process, and helps you digest all the rest of your meals that day.

3. It gives you essential nutrients and vitamins

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Think about some typical breakfast food. Maybe you like eggs and spinach in a sandwich? A fruit smoothie? Porridge? Yoghurt, fresh fruit, and granola? Orange juice? Our favourite breakfast foods are filled with nutrients and vitamins like folate, calcium, iron, and vitamin B and C. Increasing your intake of these vitamins in the morning set you up well for the rest of the day and increase your chances of getting a healthy range of foods.

4. It fills you up before you get really hungry

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Not all of us wake up hungry in the morning, and that's normal. But eating a small, nutritional breakfast can help you manage your hunger levels before they get out of control later in the day - especially if, later on, you fancy reaching for something like a doughnut or something else high in fat and sugar.

5. So you can control your weight better

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Eating breakfast can also help manage your weight. While there haven't been lots of studies on this, anecdotally, eating in the morning can reduce you eating worse foods later in the day. Because breakfast starts your metabolism, you'll also find it easier to burn calories from foods later in the day.

6. It can also boost brainpower

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Breakfast has long been associated with waking up the body, and it also accomplishes the same thing with your brain. In the morning, your glycogen stores in your body will be low, as they've been used up while you were asleep. However, your brain needs glycogen. So, eating in the morning replenishes these stores and ensures your brain is working right.

7. You reduce your risk of diabetes

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Some studies have concluded that eating breakfast can actually lower your risk of developing certain diseases like type 2 diabetes. In fact, people who skip breakfast even once a week have a 6% greater chance of getting type 2 diabetes. Whether this is to do with metabolism or the nutrients in breakfast food, it's a strong argument for eating breakfast every day.

8. You're less likely to reach for snacks

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Eating in the morning can sometimes seem like a chore, especially if you're not particularly hungry. But filling your body with energy and nutrients in the morning can prevent you from heading to the snack cupboard later in the morning, before lunch. To reduce your chances of doing this even more, make sure your breakfast is filled with natural fiber.

9. Skipping breakfast can disrupt your circadian rhythm

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What's the circadian rhythm? It describes the range of processes in your body that react to things like sunlight and function on a 24-hour timeframe. Circadian rhythms are what help you to fall asleep at night and get hungry at regular times, and not eating breakfast can actually disrupt these processes, affecting your mood and overall health.

10. Breakfast can reduce blood glucose spikes

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It sounds counterintuitive: that eating in the morning actually lowers blood glucose spikes. But one study in people with diabetes found that not eating breakfast in the morning can lead to greater blood sugar spikes after lunch and dinner, which can have big consequences for your health. So, eat your breakfast, and you're less likely to feel sluggish after a bad meal later.

11. It can lead to eating fewer calories

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Eating breakfast - especially one filled with protein and fibre - can help you feel fuller for longer (we're sure you've heard that on a breakfast cereal ad!). Well, fulfilling that hunger in the morning can also help you make better decisions about your diet in the rest of the day, including eating lower-calorie meals and reducing bad snacking.

12. It'll improve the quality of your diet overall

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Not only do you generally eat fewer calories on a day when you eat breakfast, but people who eat breakfast every day also make better choices of what they eat. It's unclear what causes this, but it could be that feeling fuller in the morning means you don't reach for 'easy' fast food, and feel more motivated to make healthy, nutritious meals for lunch and dinner.

13. Eating breakfast can improve your memory

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We've already covered how breakfast restores glycogen in the brain, giving you a bit of a boost in the morning in your mental faculties. But it does more than that: refilling glycogen stores can have a bigger impact on your brain, including boosting your memory and your focus. So, it's always a good idea to eat something the day of a test or the first day of a new job.

14. It sets good intentions for the day

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Not only does eating breakfast improve lots of processes in your body, but it can also give you a bit of a mental boost. Spending 15 minutes eating before rushing out of the house can help you get set up for the day ahead, putting you in a better mindset for the tasks ahead.

15. And can combat obesity

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As well as reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes, there's some evidence that shows that eating breakfast every day could reduce your risk of obesity. Thought it's unclear if other lifestyle choices in people who eat breakfast are responsible for this, we know that eating in the morning helps your metabolism and circadian rhythm, which can have overarching effects on how much you eat and when.

16. Breakfast can improve heart health

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Breakfast can also go further in improving your overall heart health, reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease. One study from 2019 found that men who never ate breakfast were far more likely to suffer cardiovascular diseases and strokes than people who did eat breakfast. This is likely because of the way breakfast can help regulate your blood sugar over the day and the fact that skipping breakfast could increase cholesterol.

17. You'll burn more calories after breakfast

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You'd think that skipping breakfast would lead to more calories burned, but actually the opposite is true. Eating something as soon as you've got up wakes up your metabolism, and 'reminds' your body to start burning food for energy. So, when you eat lunch or dinner later in the day, your body is more likely to burn those calories rather than storing them.

18. You're more likely to meet fruit and veg consumption goals

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We know that breakfast food is crammed with good nutrients like fiber and calcium, but you're also more likely to eat good stuff like fruits and veg in the morning. Think about a three-fruit smoothie, strawberries on porridge, spinach with your eggs or a grapefruit with your coffee. Fruits and veg are culturally a part of our idea of breakfast food, so deciding to eat breakfast naturally means you're going to increase your fruit and veg intake.

19. And more likely to increase your fiber intake

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Breakfast foods also naturally contain lots of fiber - which is really important for our bodies. Most Americans don't eat enough fiber on a daily basis, and eating breakfast is an easy way of sorting that. Breakfast cereal, porridge, wholemeal toast: they're all chock-full of good fiber.

20. You'll eat less fat overall

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There's also some evidence that eating breakfast can reduce the amount of fat we eat over the rest of the day. This may be because an increase in blood sugar (that may be triggered by not eating breakfast) can lead us to crave things high in sugar and fat - so, eat breakfast, and you'll be less tempted by unhealthy foods.

21. You'll feel less tired in the afternoon

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Low blood sugar levels in the morning triggered by not eating breakfast can also have big effects later in the day. In fact, this drop in blood sugar can cause you to feel restless, moody, and tired later in the day. Whereas, eating breakfast gives you a strong base level for you energy levels, which could help you combat that afternoon dip.

22. It'll help your body perform better

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To help your body perform to the best of its ability, you need to fuel it well. Not eating breakfast in the morning will put you at a disadvantage, as your brain and muscles don't have the right energy levels to perform well. So, if you know you're going to be working out in the morning or completing a difficult task at work, it's better to fuel up.

23. Breakfast reduces brain fog

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Do you suffer from brain fog? It's a common symptom in today's busy modern world. Maybe you feel like your memory is worse, you're too tired to work, and you can't do the same things at work that you could before. Well, eating breakfast could be the cure. With it's brain-awakening qualities, a good breakfast can help combat brain fog and get your brain working like it should.

24. You're more likely to be active in the morning

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Not eating breakfast can easily make you feel irritable and tired thanks to the big blood sugar dip you experience. On the contrary, studies have shown that eating breakfast in the morning makes people more likely to be active in the morning - going out for a walk, working out, or just feeling more upbeat.

25. You'll find it easier to maintain muscle mass

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Skipping breakfast means you're skipping a big opportunity to fuel up and make gains. Breakfast is a great time to fill up with protein and carbs that will refuel your muscles after a night of sleep and help you feel stronger. Not to mention, the other affects of eating breakfast like improving your circadian rhythm can lead to more energy and better hormone balance which can only improve your workouts.

26. Breakfast can reduce stress

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In the morning, your body naturally produces cortisol - the so-called 'stress hormone'. By not eating breakfast in the morning, you risk running on high cortisol levels for the rest of the morning, which could result in bad mood or even anxious. Eating after you wake up in the morning is the best way to offset this morning cortisol boost, and get your stress under management.

27. You replace important nutrients

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After an entire night of sleep, your body is running low on lots of things. Eating breakfast when you get up gives you the best chance of replenishing your low vitamin and nutrient levels, putting you in good stead for the rest of the day. If you tend to not eat health lunches or dinners, it's even more important that you get those healthy nutrients in in the morning.

28. You're less likely to reach for coffee

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Skipping breakfast is one of the easiest ways of increasing your tiredness levels. And what happens then? You immediately reach for the coffee first-thing, and another one at 11am when you start to dip again. To reduce your coffee intake, start eating breakfast in the morning - it's a more natural energy boost, without the jitters.

29. It could make you cleverer

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Some studies have shown that children who eat breakfast every morning tend to perform better in academic tests than children who don't eat breakfast. Of course, skipping breakfast as children could be a sign of other things, such as a difficult home environment, which can also affect your education achievement. But, it's a powerful reason to eat breakfast.

30. It regulates your hormone levels

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It's so important that women do what they can to keep their hormone levels normal and in balance. Well, skipping breakfast is one of the easiest ways to get these out of whack. One study showed that skipping breakfast results in hormone imbalances around lunchtime, which can easily affect your mood and metabolism.