It’s 7:00 AM, you are one foot out the door holding 5 bags, your thermos full of caffeine and trying to remember where on earth you put your car keys. Breakfast is the last thing on your mind and you plan on noshing on whatever is available during your morning meeting. Sound familiar? If it does, you might want to rethink this habit in the name of health. A new study was recently published that found that people who eat breakfast regularly are less likely to suffer from a stroke or heart attack than people who skip it.
Researchers looked at data from a span of 40 years related to meal timing and diet and found that breakfast fans tend to be healthier in general, have lower cholesterol, blood pressure and risk of developing diabetes over their lifetime.
So why is the most important meal of the day so magical? Researchers believe that it helps keep your biological clock in good standing and has benefits to your metabolism. It’s thought that meal timing specifically affects overall health because of its impact on the body’s internal clock. By resetting your internal clock, nutrient metabolism can be changed resulting in insulin resistance, inflammation, and inevitable weight gain. This includes intermittent fasting as well! While intermittent fasting has been linked to a myriad of health benefits including weight loss, decreased blood pressure and improved blood sugar it might not be doing more harm than good in the long run.
Although this is an interesting finding, more human studies need to be done to prove this further. For now, even eating a small breakfast will suffice. Try a hard boiled egg and oatmeal, a slice of toast with avocado or if you can’t even fathom eating any solid food whatsoever, opt for a fruit and vegetable smoothie. Think about it- when you sleep your body is fasting for a 7-8 hour period. Eating within an hour of waking up will give you the energy your body is craving and will kick your metabolism into gear. Being part of the breakfast club has never been cooler.