Start with a healthy meal

Breakfast provides energy to the brain and the muscles in order to sustain activity through the day and also replenishes the glucose stores. Several studies have confirmed that eating breakfast can improve attention and memory. Research has also found that people who eat breakfast have a better attitude towards work, are more productive, have more strength and endurance, and a better concentration.

A study done in San Diego which measured the effectiveness of a 9:00 a.m. nutrition break after it had been implemented for one academic year at a school, found that the frequency of inability to focus, tiredness, stomachache, headache and midmorning hunger fell. Majority of the staff (74 per cent) stated that the nutrition break had positive effects on the learning environment and school attendance.

Skipping breakfast may not only leave you feeling more tired, irritable and restless in the morning, it may also make you more likely to eat fatty foods through the day. Recent research confirms that the more food you eat earlier in the day the more quickly you will fill up at dinner; and you won’t be hungry in the evening.

Since breakfast is one meal which most people eat at home, it can allow us to make better food choices and stick to regimes and supplements. Several studies show that breakfast helps boost your intake of important nutrients—complex carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals (especially calcium) and fiber. People who miss breakfast usually don’t make up for certain essential nutrients. This was clearly indicated by a study in Spain which highlighted the importance of breakfast in meeting the daily recommended calcium intake for schoolchildren. Subjects with the greatest intakes of milk products and calcium at breakfast also showed greater intakes of these foods over the rest of the day.

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