Many people skip breakfast on a daily basis. I’m sure you’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but most people don’t understand why this is so. Sure, a big reason is to give you energy to start the day. But while this is an important reason, one must look at the physiology of the body to truly understand why skipping breakfast can do more harm than not providing you with energy to start the day.
Upon waking up in the morning, you have probably gone at least seven to eight hours without eating, and maybe more than this. As a result, when you wake up your blood sugar levels are already down. And when you go a decent amount of time without eating (greater than 30 to 60 minutes after waking up), the blood sugar levels continue to decrease, and your body will then need to release cortisol in order to raise your blood sugar levels. When you combine skipping breakfast with eating refined foods and going long periods of time between meals, this puts a great deal of stress on your adrenal glands.
A common excuse for not eating breakfast is that a person is simply “not hungry”. The reason for this is usually because the person is “out of touch” with their body. In other words, their system is chemically imbalanced, and as a result they don’t receive the normal signals that tell them that they are hungry. After all, it makes sense that one should be hungry after going seven or eight hours without eating, doesn’t it?
I’m not suggesting that someone who routinely skips breakfast should immediately begin eating a big breakfast. Often times they will need to start slow, and at the very least I recommend having some type of “healthy” protein in the morning.
Of course there is always debate as to what is healthy or not, as if I were to recommend eating eggs for breakfast, someone would no doubt reference an online article that discusses how eggs are bad for you! I personally disagree with this, but there many medical doctors, and even some holistic doctors that will tell you to stay away from eggs.
In any case, eggs aren’t the only way to get a good amount of protein, as there are other sources. In a previous post I mentioned how I drink a protein shake every morning. And although I do add a raw egg to it, this isn’t necessary, as adding Whey Protein, for example, will give you a sufficient amount of protein to start the day.
Other healthy protein sources include chicken, fish, and turkey. The point is to stop eating that bowl of sugary cereal, a pop tart, or anything else that will spike up your blood sugar levels.
And as I’ve mentioned in the past, after you consume a healthy breakfast, try to eat regularly every two hours after this. Once again, there will be a difference in opinion regarding this. In a previous post I recently mentioned a book called “Potatoes Not Prozac”, which does a good job of explaining some of the basic physiology behind what happens with your blood sugar levels when you skip breakfast, eat refined carbohydrates, etc.
However, one thing the author mentions is that it’s okay to go 6 hours between meals upon waking up, which I definitely don’t agree with. And this isn’t just my opinion, as many other natural experts agree that you shouldn’t go longer than two or three hours in between meals in order to keep the blood sugar levels balanced.
How about if you exercise first thing in the morning? Although I’ve always been one to eat breakfast, I must admit that there were times in the past when I would wake up early in the morning to exercise without eating anything. Doing so was a mistake, and if you happen to do exercise first thing upon waking up you will want to at least have a small portion of a protein-based food to eat before working out.
So hopefully you realize how important it is to eat breakfast in the morning. If you already eat breakfast regularly, just make sure that you incorporate a healthy type of protein. And if you usually skip breakfast, begin by eating something small. Doing this simple thing can really do wonders when it comes to balancing your blood sugar levels and maintaining your adrenal health.