Posted on February 12, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

The importance of breakfast is no new topic for any personal training client at Motive8 North it is a key component of almost all training and health goals. However, still people skip this vital meal and wonder why their training and goals are suffering.  I attach so much importance to breakfast that I sit on a Sunday evening and plan my weekly breakfasts. On a side note the excuse I don’t have time in a morning to make breakfast is a massive pile of bull. The beautiful thing about time is that we have the ability to manipulate it. Cut some rubbish TV out at night and get up 5-10 minutes earlier. The following are the recent key points research has established as to why is breakfast really important.

• YOU WILL HAVE BETTER BODY COMPOSITION- The amount of research now that has established a correlation between individuals that eat breakfast and have a lower body fat% is overwhelming. Studies show that individuals who consume breakfast have a better macronutrient profile than those who skip breakkfast. Individuals that skip breakfast are more likely to overindulge later in the day and thus make poorer nutritional choices.

• YOU’LL BE A HAPPIER YOU- Individuals who consume a healthy high protein breakfast have lower rates of depression and a higher quality of life. This is believed to be due to a better hormone profile compared to individuals who chronically skip breakfast and opt for a stimulant such as coffee.

• YOU’LL EAT A BETTER VARIETY OF FOODS- I find it very frustrating that companies and cooperation’s have brainwashed us so much that we think we need to have special “breakfast” foods first thing in the morning. In reality its just another meal and should be viewed as such. Research has shown that individuals who consume breakfast in the morning take in more vegetables through the day than people that skip.

• YOU’LL HAVE A HIGHER IQ- The amount of research linking breakfast to memory recall and cognitive function is once again overwhelming. You’ll be better at work, school, doing an exam, at an education course, the list is endless. Eat to improve your mental performance. Imagine breakfast as the tool that switches on all the levers in the body.

• YOU’RE LESS LIKELY TO BE COME INSULIN RESISTANT- If you keep skipping that important breakfast guess what, the body over time becomes less sensitive to insulin. This means more and more sugar gets left wandering around in the bloodstream. You try and make more insulin in your body to overcome this and the vicious cycle continues until you’ve got diabetes. By the way eating pop tarts or whatever rubbish is in the breakfast aisle at your supermarket won’t help with this. You need to opt for a high protein with good fats breakfast.

Obviously if you want to be a heavier, slower and slightly dumber version of yourself with a negative outlook on life by all means give breakfast a miss but if you want to improve your body composition and health I highly recommend eating this important meal.

Chris