By Brooks Laber D.C.
Has your mom ever told you the breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well turns out that she was right all along. More and more researchers are finding that breakfast is the key to a healthy life, and yet many people sacrifice it in their rush to get out the door.
As its name implies, breakfast is breaking the fast between dinner and lunch. When you decide to skip breakfast, your body goes into a prolonged fasting state, which decreases energy, slow down metabolism, and when you do finally eat lunch your body tries to store it as fat because it thinks it might need it later. When you eat a health breakfast the opposite happens, you can use that energy to propel you through the day, it stabilizes your blood sugar, as well as kick starting your metabolism for the day. It has been shown to help kids do better in school, increase physical fitness, breakfast eaters are more productive at work, have better problem-solving skills, and increased mental clarity.
On average, breakfast skippers snack more often, eat more sugary, high-fat snacks, drink more soda, are more likely to overeat at night, and are more often overweight or obese than breakfast eaters.
Now I’m not advocating eating anything for breakfast, because eating high sugar, and high carb foods will also lead you crashing throughout the day, and on a one track road to diabetes and insulin issues. Try sticking with high protein and fat breakfast with some veggies or fruit added in. In my perfect world free range eggs are a must as they are the perfect protein packed breakfast food, throw in some free range sausage links, and some onions in the eggs and your set for the day. You’ll feel more energy, less food cravings, and avoid the dreaded afternoon crash.
Dr. Brooks most common breakfast foods:
- Eggs, Eggs, Eggs
- Free range sausage links
- Free range bacon
- Onions, Peppers, Broccoli, garlic, and tomatoes in the eggs
- Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
- Avocados
For those of you looking to start making healthier choices, start with adding breakfast into your daily routine. It only takes an extra 10 minutes, and you’ll feel the benefits of it all day!