Breakfast: Why Neglecting it is Deemed a Dietary Misdeed

If we are to describe a well-nourished person, we have to find someone who has these physical qualities: well-developed and strong muscles, well-structured bones, abundant vitality, a pleasing body contour, and an efficiently functioning body. Briefly mentioned, a well-nourished person is a healthy person. It isn't difficult at all to comprehend this, knowing fully well that the food a person consumes supplies the raw material out of which all body processes are sustained.

With the description of a healthy person aforementioned, would you be able to confidently answer in the affirmative when asked if you're a well-nourished person? Quite surprisingly, a lot of people - in fact, even in countries whose citizens have a high standard of living - are not well-nourished. This is because there are certain dietary habits that cause this seemingly prevalent malnutrition.

Some of these practices (misdeeds actually) pertain to "eating too much," as in eating more food than the body needs, eating snacks between regular meals, and eating too much sugar and processed food. But among these dietary "sins," one stands out as that which is most often committed and is quite the opposite of the others - neglecting breakfast.

Not having the time is the usual excuse given for skipping breakfast. This justification is probably a sign of the lack of moderation in an individual's sleeping habits. Not getting to bed on time and thus lacking in sufficient sleep, the person gets up late, prepares in haste, and rushes to work (or to her first engagement for the day), completely neglecting breakfast in this dissipating routine.

This slighting of breakfast easily turns into a habit, the very reason why we hear many people say that they don't feel hungry for breakfast. But these very people who make such a claim become hungry before lunchtime and yield to a midmorning snack. This habit effectively removes the inherent craving for lunch, and a habit of impropriety eventually develops, with lots of calories being obtained from snacks rather than from nutritionally balanced regular meals.

Breakfast is very important in that, as the term itself suggests, it is the first meal of the day. During the night, the energy required to carry on essential bodily functions has been taken out from the body's reserves until these are, in some measure, depleted. It is therefore necessary to replenish them at the beginning of the new day. Obviously, breakfast has to be nutritiously sufficient; it should consist of more than just enough energy food (whole grain cereals are a good example) to sustain the person for the next two hours or so. This, of course, should include foods that are rich in protein (milk and meat), vitamins and minerals (fresh fruits), plus the right amount of fat.

Equally important is that breakfast has to have taste appeal. This encourages an attitude of cheerfulness and optimism which sets the tempo, mentally, for the many activities of the day. [Read the Original Article]