It is commonly believed that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is it really so? Is breakfast more important than lunch and dinner? How to compose breakfasts properly and tasty? In this article, you will learn what and how to eat to make it tasty and healthy according to the principle “Eat normally, achieve more!”
Breakfast – the most important meal of the day
Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally. When assessing the quality of a diet, one should not consider only one meal, because after all, the whole nutrition counts. If you take care of a healthy breakfast, skipping the rest of your meals, your diet will not be adequate, and a healthy breakfast alone will not help.
It’s a bit like evaluating a single product, the egg itself can be both healthy and unhealthy – it depends on whether you add vegetables and wholemeal bread, or bacon and wheat rolls.
Okay, but let’s assume that your entire diet is healthy and quality, and every meal is equally wholesome – will you get additional benefits from eating breakfast instead of skipping it? You will find the answer supported by scientific evidence later in the article.
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A good breakfast – what it should look like
A properly balanced breakfast should be a wholesome meal, so it should contain a healthy source of protein, fat and carbohydrates. The choice of a specific meal depends on your preferences, so if you like porridge the most, add nuts and skyra to it, and if your heart is occupied by scrambled eggs, then throw in wholemeal bread, vegetables and enjoy!
Below we present you examples of savoury and sweet breakfasts, which contain both sources of carbohydrates (oatmeal, bread), protein (milk, natural yogurt, tofu) and fat (almonds, nuts, dark chocolate, chia seeds). Choose the weight of the products to your caloric needs and enjoy a balanced and tasty meal!
How many calories for breakfast?
The supply of kilocalories for breakfast is individual and depends on your needs. The best way to calculate the appropriate calorific value will be to use the percentage distribution.
So, if you are a person who is on a 1800 kcal diet and eats 5 meals a day, breakfast should contain about 450 kcal, in the case of 3 meals about 630 kcal.
Use the supply of macronutrients for breakfast similar to the WHO recommendation for a daily proportion, i.e. 20% protein, 25-30% fat and 50-55% carbohydrates.
450 kcal is, for example, 150 g of 1.5% milk + 50 g of oatmeal + one kiwi + 30 g of nuts
Protein-fat breakfasts are currently very popular, especially among people with glycemic disorders (insulin resistance, diabetes). And this is justified, because eating breakfasts rich in fat and protein can reduce the level of glycated hemoglobin, i.e. improve your sugar metabolism.
In addition, in people with type 2 diabetes, the inclusion of protein-fat breakfasts resulted in a reduction in the dose of the drug used to treat this disease [1]. However, this does not mean that even if you have glucose disorders, you have to eat a protein-fat breakfast. It’s a good idea, but a balanced breakfast with added carbohydrates will also work for you!
What time should you eat breakfast?
There is no one right hour when breakfast should be eaten. Some people talk about eating breakfast up to 1-2 hours after waking up, others about eating it as soon as possible, and still others that extending the night fast will be beneficial. There is no reliable scientific evidence, so in practice we recommend eating breakfast up to 1-2 hours after waking up, because then it is easier to maintain regularity of meals, BUT… if you can’t or don’t have an appetite in the morning, don’t force yourself – eat according to your body’s signals.
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