We have all heard of this ancient proverb, and most of us are told as children not to skip breakfast by our parents or grandparents.
And yet, it is a fact that so many busy people don’t find the time to have breakfast in the morning before leaving for work, and tend to overeat during the rest of the day.
It’s hardly a surprise then that 68.8 percent of the adults in the United States, and 64 percent of adults in the United Kingdom are said to be overweight or obese.
Experts recommend that we should be getting at least 33 percent of our daily calorie intake from breakfast, which should be around 600 calories for most people.
But typically, people tend to get a majority of their calories from afternoon and evening snacks and dinner.
Dangers of Skipping Breakfast…
Why is breakfast so important? The clue lies in the term “breakfast” itself. Breakfast means “breaking your fast.”
Since most of us sleep for 8 hours at night, there is a gap of at least 10 to 12 hours between dinner and breakfast. So, for this long period, the body has absolutely nothing, and the blood sugar levels are very low.
When you skip breakfast or have a very light breakfast, that tends to play havoc with the body’s balancing act. The brain must get a constant supply of sugar. When the brain doesn’t get the fuel it needs to function well, your concentration levels are likely to be quite low for the whole day.
Students who skip breakfast find it hard to focus on their lessons in school. Certainly, you should never skip breakfast in the morning when you have a test or an interview later in the day.
And yet, in spite of being fully aware of the dangers of missing out on breakfast, half of the working population continues to do the same. They make up for it later by having sweets, chocolates, cookies, cakes and pastries for the rest of the day – only to experience rapid weight gain.
Why You Should Eat Breakfast Like a King…
There have been a plenty of studies done that stress the importance of having breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Consider the study done by the Tel Aviv University, the results of which were published in the journal Obesity.
The researchers in the study had 50 overweight women on two 12-week, 1400-calorie diet plans. One diet plan consisted of a breakfast of 700 calories, lunch of 500 calories and dinner of 200 calories.
The other diet plan had this in the reverse order – 200 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch and 700 calories for dinner. The same foods were recommended for breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the women.
The results of the study were interesting. Both groups of women did lose a lot of weight, but the group that had a heavy breakfast and light dinner lost 19 pounds, while the one had a light breakfast and a heavy dinner lost 8 pounds. So, clearly, having a heavy breakfast and a light lunch was more advantageous for weight loss.
One explanation offered for this was that the hormone “ghreline“, which is a hormone that increases the appetite, was less active early in the day.
So women who had heavy breakfasts tended to feel fuller for much longer, and felt higher levels of satiety.
The BIG Weight Loss Secret….
The big secret to weight loss lies in the body’s circadian rhythms, which represent the physical and behavioral changes your body undergoes in a typical day.
As weight loss specialist Professor Daniela Jakubowicz explains, “Metabolism is impacted by the body’s circadian rhythm, the biological process that the body follows over a 24-hour cycle. So the time of day we eat can have a big impact on the way our bodies process food.”
So, clearly, “when” you eat, is just as important as “how much” you eat. Have a heavy breakfast, less heavy lunch and a light dinner. Avoid having too many snacks in between. Indeed, when you have heavy breakfasts, you feel more satiated and so don’t have to resort to unhealthy snacks in the middle of the day.
So, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper and feel the difference as your jeans get less tight around the waist and dresses feel bigger and more comfortable.
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