"Do you eat breakfast?" A simple survey with surprising results: 53% of people eat it regularly, 10% occasionally, and 37% often skip it. "No time," "no appetite," "wanting to lose weight..." these might be the excuses most working adults use for skipping breakfast. Little do they know, breakfast provides the nutrition and energy for the new day. If you skip or make do with breakfast for a long time, all your body's organs will be harmed. Let me tell you what a good breakfast should look like.
The Dangers of Skipping Breakfast Long-term
Skipping breakfast affects intelligence: Experts found that among students with similar intelligence levels, those who eat breakfast perform significantly better than those who skip or rarely eat it. This is because without breakfast, the brain lacks the necessary nutrition and energy to develop and function properly, which over time can impair memory and intellectual development.
Skipping breakfast affects lifespan: Human health and longevity are governed by the body's biological clock. Skipping breakfast disrupts its normal operation, and the body cannot receive timely nutritional supplements. This leads to a decline in physiological function, and combined with the various diseases caused by not eating breakfast, it all impacts a person's health and longevity.
Skipping breakfast makes you slow to react: Breakfast is the energy source for brain activity. Without it, the body cannot supply enough blood sugar for consumption, leading to lethargy, fatigue, an inability to concentrate, low spirits, and slow reactions.
Skipping breakfast makes you more prone to obesity: Once the body senses a lack of nutrition, it first burns carbohydrates and proteins, and only then fats. So, don't think that skipping breakfast will help burn fat. On the contrary, skipping breakfast may cause you to eat more at lunch and dinner, making you fatter instead of slimmer.
What a Good Breakfast Should Look Like
A healthy breakfast should provide you with over 40% of your daily energy. The saying "eat breakfast like a king" means it should be both healthy and satisfying.
Fats (olive oil) 20%
Protein (milk, eggs) 30%
Carbohydrates (staples like bread, vegetables, fruits) 50%
What's the Best Time to Eat Breakfast?
When asked about the best time for breakfast, many people would say: "Breakfast, of course, is eaten in the morning." This is correct, but did you know that even eating in the morning has a timing issue? If you eat breakfast too early, it can affect the rest of your gastrointestinal tract, keeping the digestive system in a constant state of stress and disrupting the rhythm of intestinal peristalsis. During sleep, the digestive organs are still digesting and absorbing the food from dinner left in the stomach and intestines, only truly entering a resting state around dawn.
This is especially true for middle-aged and elderly people, whose secretion of digestive enzymes in the stomach, intestines, and pancreas decreases, and whose digestive absorption and metabolic functions decline. If they get up very early and eat breakfast immediately, it will affect their gastrointestinal function. Therefore, for the average person who wakes up around 7 a.m., it's best to eat breakfast about 30 minutes later, as this is when the appetite is strongest.
Other Notes on Eating Breakfast
1. Food eaten after breakfast cannot replace it, so it's not scientific to skip breakfast and rely entirely on snacks.
2. Parents' example is very important. Only when parents lead by eating nutritious and healthy breakfasts will children develop good breakfast habits.
3. Don't eat too quickly just because you're in a hurry, to avoid damaging the digestive system.
4. Breakfast should also be eaten at a fixed time and place, otherwise it will affect digestion and absorption.