Start Your Day off Right

Posted: Feb 19 in Nutrition by Dr. Lazarus

Breakfast has long been labeled the most important meal, yet an astounding number of people claim to skip breakfast in hopes of cutting calories from the start of their day. To lose weight, it’s important to follow a healthy weight loss program that features breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If someone told you that you had to go an entire day without taking a single bite of food, you would likely hesitate at the thought. Even going the span of an eight hour work day without taking a break for sustenance seems a difficult feat—yet you regularly go this long without any food while you are asleep. When you think about the hours between dinner and breakfast, it doesn’t make much sense to overlook this crucial component of your day.

Time to Break the Fast

Eating breakfast puts you on a healthy track to get through the day. Here are a few of the leading reasons why you should never skip breakfast again:

• Blood sugar levels often drop in the morning, and eating a healthy breakfast can stabilize them so that you have energy and remain alert until lunch. You are also less likely to overeat at lunch or indulge in a mid-morning snack when you have a healthy breakfast.
• Insulin levels respond to skipped meals by surging. So, if you skip breakfast you are likely going to experience a hyper response of insulin when you eat lunch. When the level of insulin in the blood is greater than the glucose level, this can lead to a metabolic disorder and can prompt the build-up of fat.

A healthy breakfast doesn’t have to take a lot of work. A cup of low-sugar cereal with skim milk or a hard-boiled egg with a piece of fruit is plenty to give a good boost to your morning. If you are not accustomed to eating breakfast regularly, then talk with your weight loss doctor to find out what healthy meals would make for a smart start to your day.