How to get a healthy balanced breakfast

No time? Not hungry? One in five of us skip the most important meal of the day, but breakfast is essential for a healthy, balanced diet. Breakfast gives us the energy we need to get the day off to a good start. Here’s some advice for those who are always in a rush, only like savoury meals and all those who just don’t get hungry in the morning.

Swallowing a coffee on your way out or wolfing down sugary cakes while standing up... Breakfast gets less and less important throughout the year.

An essential meal for boosting your energy reserves

One in five people don’t eat breakfast. However, after a night’s sleep when your body is fasting, and with a busy day ahead of you, the body needs something to stock up on. In theory, breakfast should cover 25% of your daily energy intake. In practice, this percentage fluctuates between 15 and 20%. When you wake up late, already stressed and not hungry, it is difficult to make yourself sit down and eat a proper breakfast. However, there are many advantages to spending quarter of an hour at the breakfast table every morning.

No diet skips out breakfast!

If you are watching you figure, never skip out breakfast. In fact, many dietary studies have shown that people who don’t eat breakfast tend to have a diet that is higher in fat overall. And this makes sense. Resisting the temptation to eat a chocolate bar or croissant later in the morning, easily within reach in the cafeteria, becomes very difficult when you have an empty stomach. If you get past these temptations and stick to eating lunch only, there is a strong chance that you will eat whatever you can get your hands on, choosing foods that are higher in fat as a matter of preference.

Skipping breakfast is difficult to make up for

When it comes to nutrition, it has been established that a lack of micronutrients at breakfast will not be compensated for by other meals. Breakfast means your body gets vitamins present in fruit and in cereal (breakfast cereals are now enriched in vitamins and oligo-elements) as well as a sufficient supply of calcium. Consequently, those who do not eat breakfast will not make up for it during the course of the day. According to studies published in 1998, breakfast could encourage memorisation and learning in children as well as in adults.

Become a fan of breakfast!

The best things to include in your breakfast are: a hot drink, a dairy product, an egg or a slice of ham, a piece of fruit and slow-burning sugars (bread, cereal). For all those who don’t have time or who really don’t like eating in the morning, here are some menu ideas to inspire you, so you avoid getting the munchies and nutritional deficiencies:

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Hélène Huret

Posted 06.07.2012

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