Breakfast is often called ‘the most important meal of the day’, and for good reason.

As the name suggests, breakfast breaks the overnight fasting period. It replenishes
your supply of glucose to boost your energy levels and alertness, while also
providing other essential nutrients required for good health.

Many studies have shown the health benefits of eating breakfast. It improves your
energy levels and ability to concentrate in the short term, and can help with better
weight management, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the long
term.

Despite the benefits of breakfast for your health and wellbeing, many people often
skip it, for a variety of reasons. The good news is there are plenty of ways to make it
easier to fit breakfast into your day.

Why breakfast is so important

When you wake up from your overnight sleep, you may not have eaten for up to 10
hours. Breakfast replenishes the stores of energy and nutrients in your body.

Energy

The body’s energy source is glucose. Glucose is broken down and absorbed from
the carbohydrates you eat. The body stores most of its energy as fat. But your body
also stores some glucose as glycogen, most of it in your liver, with smaller amounts
in your muscles.

During times of fasting (not eating), such as overnight, the liver breaks down
glycogen and releases it into your bloodstream as glucose to keep your blood sugar
levels stable. This is especially important for your brain, which relies almost entirely
on glucose for energy.

In the morning, after you have gone without food for as long as 12 hours, your
glycogen stores are low. Once all of the energy from your glycogen stores is used
up, your body starts to break down fatty acids to produce the energy it needs. But
without carbohydrate, fatty acids are only partially oxidised, which can reduce your
energy levels.

Eating breakfast boosts your energy levels and restores your glycogen levels ready
to keep your metabolism up for the day.

Skipping breakfast may seem like a good way to reduce overall energy intake. But
research shows that even with a higher intake of energy, breakfast eaters tend to be
more physically active in the morning than those who don’t eat until later in the day.

Essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients

Breakfast foods are rich in key nutrients such as folate, calcium, iron, B vitamins
and fibre. Breakfast provides a lot of your day’s total nutrient intake. In fact, people
who eat breakfast are more likely to meet their recommended daily intakes of
vitamins and minerals than people who don’t.

Essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can only be gained from food, so
even though your body can usually find enough energy to make it to the next meal,
you still need to top up your vitamin and mineral levels to maintain health and vitality.

Breakfast helps you control your weight

People who regularly eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight or obese.
Research is ongoing as to why this is the case. It is thought that eating breakfast
may help you control your weight because:

 it prevents large fluctuations in your blood glucose levels, helping you to

control your appetite
 breakfast fills you up before you become really hungry, so you’re less likely to
just grab whatever foods are nearby when hunger really strikes (for example
high energy, high fat foods with added sugars or salt).

Breakfast boosts brainpower

If you don’t have breakfast, you might find you feel a bit sluggish and struggle to
focus on things. This is because your brain hasn’t received the energy (glucose) it
needs to get going. Studies suggest that not having breakfast affects your mental
performance, including your attention, ability to concentrate and memory. This can
make some tasks feel harder than they normally would.

Children and adolescents who regularly eat breakfast also tend to perform better
academically compared with those who skip breakfast. They also feel a greater level
of connectedness with teachers and other adults at their school, which leads to
further positive health and academic outcomes.

A healthy breakfast may reduce the risk of illness

Compared with people who don’t have breakfast, those who regularly eat breakfast
tend to have a lower risk of both obesity and type 2 diabetes. There is also some
evidence that people who don’t have breakfast may be at a higher risk of
cardiovascular disease.

Breakfast helps you make better food choices

People who eat breakfast generally have more healthy diets overall, have better
eating habits and are less likely to be hungry for snacks during the day than people
who skip breakfast. Children who eat an inadequate breakfast are more likely to
make poor food choices not only for the rest of the day, but also over the longer
term.

People who skip breakfast tend to nibble on snacks during the mid-morning or
afternoon. This can be a problem if those snacks are low in fibre, vitamins and
minerals, but high in fat and salt. Without the extra energy that breakfast can offer,
some people feel lethargic and turn to high-energy food and drinks to get them
through the day.

If you do skip breakfast, try a nutritious snack such as fresh fruit, yoghurt, veggie
sticks and hommus, or a wholemeal sandwich to help you through that mid-morning
hunger.

Skipping breakfast
Skipping breakfast was shown to be common in the most recent national nutrition
survey of Australian children and adolescents, although the majority did not skip
breakfast consistently.

Those most likely to skip breakfast were older females, and people who:

 are under or overweight

 have a poor diet
 have lower physical activity levels
 do not get enough sleep
 are from single-parent or lower income households.

Some common reasons for skipping breakfast include:

 not having enough time or wanting to spend the extra time being in bed
 trying to lose weight
 too tired to bother
 bored of the same breakfast foods
 don't feel hungry in the morning
 no breakfast foods readily available in the house
 the cost of buying breakfast foods
 cultural reasons.

While skipping breakfast is not recommended, good nutrition is not just about the
number of meals you have each day. If you don’t have breakfast, aim to make up for
the nutritional content you missed at breakfast with your lunch and dinner.

Ideas for healthy breakfast foods

Research has shown that schoolchildren are more likely to eat breakfast if easy-to-
prepare breakfast foods are readily available at home. Some quick suggestions
include:
  porridge made from rolled oats – when choosing quick oats, go for the plain
variety and add your own fruit afterwards as the flavoured varieties tend to
have a lot of added sugar
 wholegrain cereal (such as untoasted muesli, bran cereals or whole-wheat
biscuits) with milk, natural yoghurt and fresh fruit
 fresh fruits and raw nuts
 wholemeal, wholegrain or sourdough toast, or English muffins or crumpets
with baked beans, poached or boiled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach,
salmon, cheese, avocado or a couple of teaspoons of spreads such as
hommus or 100% nut pastes (such as peanut or almond butter)
 smoothies made from fresh fruit or vegetables, natural yoghurt and milk
 natural yoghurt with some fresh fruit added for extra sweetness and some raw
nuts for crunchiness.

If you’re time poor you can still have breakfast

Early starts, long commutes and busy morning schedules mean many of us don’t
make time to sit down to breakfast before heading out for the day. Whatever your
reason for being time poor in the morning, there are still ways that you can fit in
breakfast. Some ideas include:

 Prepare some quick and healthy breakfast foods the night before or on the
weekend, such as zucchini slice, healthy muffins or overnight oats (rolled oats
soaked in milk overnight in the fridge – just add fruit/nuts and serve). A pre-
prepared breakfast means you can grab it and eat at home, on the way to
work or once you get to your destination.
 Keep some breakfast foods at work (if allowed) to enjoy once you arrive.
 Get in the habit of setting your alarm for 10 to15 minutes earlier than usual to
give you time to have breakfast at home.
 Swap out any time-wasting habits in the morning (such as checking your
emails or scrolling social media) and use this time for breakfast instead.
 Prepare for the next day the night before to free up time in the morning to
have breakfast.

Can’t face food in the morning?

Some people find they just can’t tolerate food first thing in the morning – perhaps
because they have their last meal of the day quite late at night or they don’t find
typical breakfast foods appealing, or because food first thing in the morning turns
their stomach.

If it’s hard for you to eat food first thing in the morning, you might like to try:

 reducing the size of your meals in the evening and eating them earlier so
you’re hungry in the morning
  investigating some new recipes and stocking your cupboards with some
different types of foods to increase your breakfast appetite
 switching your breakfast to morning tea or mid-morning snack time instead –
perhaps try some of the portable breakfast ideas listed above so you’ve got
healthy options ready to go when you feel ready for your mid-morning
breakfast.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/breakfast#bhc-content