What’s your typical pick for a morning meal? Does it involve a cup of coffee with toast and fruit? Maybe some oatmeal with chia seeds? Or perhaps a protein-packed smoothie?
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…Are Leaner
A 2003 study in a href=”http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/158/1/85.full”the emAmerican Journal of Epidemiology/em /ashowed that people who skip breakfast are 4.5 times more likely to be obese than those who take a morning meal.
The study, which included 499 people whose diets were tracked over a year-long period, also showed that a href=”http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/158/1/85.full”eating out for dinner and breakfast/a are linked with obesity risk.
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…Are All-Around Healthier
A study presented in 2003 at the American Heart Association’s annual conference showed that not only are breakfast-eaters less likely to be obese, they’re also more likely to a href=”http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2824987.stm”have good blood sugar levels/a and less likely to be hungry later on in the day, BBC News reported.
“Our results suggest that breakfast may really be the a href=”http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2824987.stm”most important meal of the day/a,” study researcher Dr. Mark Pereira, of Harvard Medical School at the time, told BBC News. “It appears that breakfast may play an important role in reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
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…Feel More Energized
Eating a breakfast that’s high in fiber and carbohydrates could help you feel less tired throughout the day, according to a 1999 study in a href=”http://www.colorado.edu/intphys/Class/IPHY3700_Greene/pdfs/atkins/Holt.pdf”the emInternational Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition/em/a.
Researchers found that when people ate a high-fat, low-carb breakfast, they a href=”http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/fatigue-fighters-six-quick-ways-boost-energy”had more energy/a throughout the day compared with people who ate a high-fat breakfast, WebMD reported.
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…Have Better Cholesterol Levels
A study in a href=”http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/2/388.abstract?cited-by=yeslegid=ajcn;81/2/388″the emAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition/em/a showed that breakfast-skippers are more likely to have worse cholesterol levels and insulin sensitivity than breakfast-eaters.
The study also showed that the breakfast-eaters consume about a href=”http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-673419.html”100 fewer calories/a a day, compared with people who skip their morning meal, CBS News reported.
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…Remember Better
Eating high-energy foods for breakfast could help to a href=”http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/019700709190042K”boost short-term memory/a, according to a study of 319 teens (between ages 13 and 20) in the emJournal of Adolescent Health/em.
Researchers also found that eating a high-calorie breakfast actually seemed to emhinder/em concentration.
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…Consume More Nutrients
People who rarely eat breakfast a href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22125684″consume more fat and fewer nutrients/a — like calcium, potassium and fiber — than regular breakfast-eaters and “often” breakfast-eaters, according to a 2011 study in the journal emNutrition Research and Practice/em.
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…Have An Excuse To Eat Healthy Breakfast Foods
Breakfast-eaters have an excuse to consume healthy breakfast-time foods like oatmeal, eggs, grapefruit and coffee.
Oatmeal has been shown in many studies to be a href=”http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uok-ohc010808.php”good for cholesterol levels/a, and research has also shown that it could help a href=”http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/spacelab/pubs/MahoneyEtAl.pdf”improve children’s memory/a and attention skills when eaten for breakfast, compared with ready-to-eat cereals.
Grapefruit is high in vitamins C and A, and has also been shown in a emClinical Cancer Research/em study this year to a href=”http://www.ivillage.com/grapefruit-juice-may-give-boost-cancer-treatment-study/4-a-478748″boost the beneficial effects of cancer drugs/a, HealthDay reported.
Eating eggs for breakfast has been linked to a href=”http://www.jacn.org/content/24/6/510.full”increased satiety /aemand/em less food consumed later in the day, compared with eating bagels for breakfast, according to a 2005 study in the emJournal of the American College of Nutrition/em. (The study was funded by the Egg Nutrition Center.)
And coffee, of course, has been linked to a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/coffee-health-benefits_n_1064577.html#slide=440649″whole host of health benefits/a, from a decreased risk of depression to a lower risk of some cancers and Type 2 diabetes.
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How to make Breakfast Shake
Learn how to start the day with a healthy breakfast, the breakfast shake.
