Eat Breakfast to Keep Moving and Stay Healthy

I used to skip breakfast every day. It wasn't that I didn't like breakfast. I like breakfast a lot. I simply felt like I didn't have time, and I thought skipping that meal would help me keep my weight down. I was wrong on both counts. I credit my nurse friends who worked with me at an inner-city hospital for getting me on the eating breakfast habit. I would go into work, drop everything in my office, and they would do a pop-in. "Hey, I noticed your door was open. Do you want to go grab some breakfast with me?" I said I would go with them, but I really didn't eat breakfast. "Oh, you have to eat breakfast," they told me. Fortunately, the hospital where I worked had a terrific breakfast spread in the cafeteria, so I was hooked. I still make myself breakfast -- even if it's some fruit and cereal -- every day. 

Image by Erick Palacio from Pixabay

Breakfast Gives You Energy

In my post Moving to Create Energy, I discussed how eating provides fuel for your body. I'm going to give a really short biology lesson about how food is converted into energy. Our bodies use glucose to create energy and keep our bodies moving. When your body creates energy, molecules first must go through the cellular respiration cycle. Simple and complex carbohydrates are recognized in the part of the cycle known as glycolysis. Proteins contain amino acids and enter cellular respiration at the intermediate stage and go through the citric acid cycle and electron transport. Fats contain triglyceride molecules that can be used in the glycolysis phase and also molecules that are used in the citric acid cycle. Insulin allows the cells to absorb glucose which provides energy to the cells. When you eat breakfast, you allow this process to start every morning. You are telling your body that you are ready for it to start producing energy and start working for the day.

Breakfast Reduces Health Risks

Because eating breakfast tells your body to start producing insulin every day, it also can reduce your risk of diabetes. Eating breakfast helps regulate your body's blood sugar levels and prevents blood sugar spikes throughout the day. Individuals over the age of 40 are at higher risk of diabetes. Multiple studies have also shown that eating breakfast reduces the risk of heart disease and atherosclerotic disease. A study from the Univerity of Iowa College of Public Health published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that people who did not eat breakfast had an 87% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The reasons behind this are not entirely clear at this point. However, eating breakfast helps regulate cholesterol, insulin, and satiety (aka hunger) throughout the day. These factors all can contribute to healthier cardiovascular functioning.