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Benefits of Eating Breakfast

Why do you think your meal in the morning is called breakfast? It's because it is the first meal you eat after fasting or not eating any food for at least about eight hours. But while you are asleep your body goes on repairing, building, renewing and strengthening of tissues, bones, muscles and immune system. By the time you wake up your glucose level is low and you don't have the energy.

If you skip your breakfast, you will likely feel weak and tired especially if you did not get a good night sleep. This is one of the reasons why you feel grumpy until you get your morning coffee. But including coffee in your breakfast menu isn't a healthy choice though it will pep you up and makes you feel alert and awake.

It's a mistake to skip breakfast if you are thinking of losing weight. Studies were made on the importance of breakfast and it is now established that people who eat healthy breakfast weigh less than those who skip this meal. This is because if you wait until lunch, you will eat a lot because by this time you would be really hungry. This means eating much more calories and the possibility of putting on weight.

So the benefits of eating breakfast are to provide you with energy and strength for your daily activities and help you with weight control. Another one of the benefits of eating breakfast is it enables you to focus. How do you expect to concentrate on a task or a chore on an empty stomach? With the renewed energy, you will perform better and improve your productivity.

Choosing the right breakfast menu is also important. You should go for low carb breakfast food. Foods that contain fats and are high in calories like bagels, doughnuts and the popular Malaysian nasi lemak or coconut cream rice. A serving of the nasi lemak provides 474 calories of which the estimated amount of calories from fat is 17 percent and carbohydrates is 77 percent.

Foods that contain protein are the best choice of a nutritious and healthy breakfast. A research done by the University Of Washington showed that increasing the amounts of foods that contain protein instead of carbohydrate help reduce weight.

Other studies revealed that when you cut carbohydrates, you stop storing sugar as fat. When you substitute your meal with an increased in protein, your kidney will work harder and burn your calories. An interesting finding is that protein can curb hunger. So one of the other benefits of eating breakfast with foods that are rich in protein is, you will eat less during lunch and dinner.

Here's an example of healthy breakfast menu or breakfast recipes:

1. Ready to eat breakfast cereals or
   
   
2. 1 or 2 scrambled eggs or
   
   
3. Egg sandwich with whole wheat toast with
   
   
4. A slice or bacon or salmon
   
   
5. Vegetables such as tomatoes or lettuce and fruits
   
   
6. Fruit juice or smoothies or
   
   
7. Low fat on non-fat milk

In case you are concerned about the calories in eggs, one large scrambled egg provides about 6g protein, lots of vitamins and minerals, 7g fat and about 210 calories. That's only a minimal amount compared to your daily calorie requirement. If you are a female who is above 18 years, your estimated daily calorie requirement is between 1600 to 2400 calories. If you are a male above 18, you may require between 2000 to 3000 calories.

The actual amount depends on your age and lifestyle. If you are a physically active person, you will burn more energy and therefore requires more to maintain your energy balance.