Tempted to skip breakfast so you can squeeze into a bikini come holiday time? Think again. Your mother was right – breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A healthy breakfast kick starts your metabolism and helps you stay slim, healthy and alert. But the message often falls on deaf ears. 

 

Breakfast benefits

 

The right sort of breakfast can help ward off killer diseases and improve concentration, among other things.

Skipping the first meal of the day increases your chances of becoming obese, developing diabetes or even having a heart attack. Those people who eat wholegrain cereals every morning are among those most likely to see the health benefits of eating breakfast. Skipping breakfast is found to be connected to other unhealthy habits, such as smoking, infrequent exercise, a low level of education, frequent alcohol use and a high body mass index. Individuals that skip breakfast may care less about their health than those who eat it.

 

The best breakfasts for ………

 

A bikini diet

 

Bacon, eggs and high protein drinks have been shunned for years by sports nutritionists, who claim a high carb approach is the only way to enhance performance.  But recently athletes who have found to consume more protein (low fat dairy food, lean meat etc) for breakfast to be faster, stronger and leaner. There’s an interactive effect when a protein rich diet is combined with exercise – the two works together to correct body composition. Dieters lose more weight – and they lose fat, not muscle. The protein rich diet works because it contains a high level of amino acid leucine, which helps stimulate muscle synthesis and recovery.

 

Mental focus

 

Include a big bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast and you’ll spark your brain into action. Blueberries are the ultimate brain food because of their rich antioxidant content. A strawberry-rich diet is beneficial for anyone wanting to improve their powers of thought or concentration.

 

All day energy

Porridge made with oats and water will provide a long lasting energy boost. There is nothing easier and healthier than a bowl of porridge a day - Porridge is a great provider of fiber as well, and is known to reduce cholesterol.

Sports performance

Tinned fruits are referred to as ‘fitness friendly’. Tinned fruits promote oxidation, sparing carbohydrate oxidation throughout sporting activities, this means that athletes who consume tinned fruits perform significantly better. Several tinned fruits have been tested, and peaches were found to have the lowest GI.

Number of women who hide snacks from friends, co workers and family: 1 in 5

Percentage of women who prefer to nibble all day at work instead of eating lunch: 29

Food the AW relies on after too many hours at the office: frozen TV dinner

Number of vegetable servings the Aw should eat a day: 4

Percentage of women who eat out two or more times a week: 61

Percentage of women who skip deserts at restaurants: 70

Percentage of women who say they eat healthily: 66

Percentage of women who are satisfied with their weight: 58

Number of pounds the AW could lose if she cut 150 calories out of her diet every day for a year: 15