The word breakfast means ‘breaking the fast’ as you are eating something for the first time since the previous night and have been in a fasting state¹.

5 REASONS WHY BREAKFAST IS IMPORTANT
1. It kick-starts your metabolism Breakfast is vital in providing the first source of energy for your body which hasn’t received any fuel for the last 8-10 hours. Eating breakfast helps to kick-start your metabolism after it has fallen asleep during the night. This helps your body to break down food more effectively throughout the day. Some people say they feel hungrier after eating breakfast than if they don’t. This is a good thing as it means your body is awake, working and using the food you are eating¹.Eating a balanced meal helps to increase and stabilise blood sugar levels which are generally low when we wake up⁴. If your low blood sugar is not corrected you may feel tired, lethargic, shaky, with poor concentration¹.

2. It provides nutrients
Breakfast is a great way to start your day by making sure you are getting in all the nutrients needed¹. Breakfast-skippers show a lower average intake in the number of servings of nutritious foods such as vegetables, grain products and milk products daily^2,3. In a 2004 study, breakfast-skippers were shown to bedeficient by up to 2/3 of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamins A, B6, and D, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, folacin, zinc, phosphorus, and iron². FUTURELIFE® Smart food™is high in 15 vitamins and mineral and contains omega 3. FUTURELIFE^®Smart food™can also assist you in meeting your daily fibre requirements as it contains whole maize flour. The whole maize flour is produced using a patented cooking process that gives it a distinct profile and a unique “fingerprint”. Using whole grain maize ensures that FUTURELIFE® Smart food™ is high in dietary fibre.

3. It assists with weight management
Research on skipping breakfast in adults is inconsistent with most of the studies showing benefit for weight loss while others showing no benefit^5,6.Skipping breakfast was associated with a significantly higher risk of obesity⁷. Subjects who regularly skipped breakfast had a 4.5 times greater risk of obesity compared to those who consumed breakfastregularly⁷.In children and adolescents, thirteen studies (n = 57,481) consistently showed that breakfast had a protective effect against becoming overweight or obese⁸.

4. Brain Power
Breakfast has been shown to improve mental performance, concentration and mood, however some of the reasons still need further research^1,2. Children who are well-nourished perform better academically as they have better concentration, show improvements in behaviour, problem-solving skills, short-term memory, attention and have improved attendance and punctuality at school. Inadequate nutrient intake is related to poor academic performance and negative behavioural issues^2,10.

5. Bonding time
Besides the direct effect that breakfast has on our health, the activity of sitting together as a family and eating breakfast has been linked to a lower risk for becoming overweight. Eating together as a family has also shown to offer protection for girls against eating disorders¹¹.

CONCLUSION
So, before you run out the door without breakfast, think about what it is doing to your body and how it will affect the productivity in your day.

REFERENCES

1. bda.uk.com/foodfacts
2. http://www.ejbss.com/Data/Sites/1/mydata/ejbss-12-1117-breakfastandadolescentperformance.pdf
3. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/div-classtitlebreakfast-trends-in-children-and-adolescents-frequency-and-qualitydiv/949FB00F01EFBDFCDFE6045D735F5F1D
4. Kathleen Mahan, Sylvia Escott-Stump (2008). Krause's Food & Nutrition Therapy.
5. http://www.pennutrition.com/KnowledgePathway.aspx?kpid=15329&trid=16795&trcatid=42
6. NHS Fact or Fiction page. Does skipping breakfast help with weight loss?
7. https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/158/1/85/174075
8. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408390903467514
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14595085
10. http://www.pennutrition.com/KnowledgePathway.aspx?kpid=1099&trid=1959&trcatid=42
11. http://www.pennutrition.com/KnowledgePathway.aspx?kpid=6750&tkid=20323
12. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00638.x/full
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20497776