How can breakfast affect your health? understand

You may have already heard about the importance of breakfast to start the day and you may have come across someone who does not have this habit or maybe you know yourself. But the truth is that adults who skip this meal can lose out on essential nutrients in the foods that make up their morning meals.

According to a study conducted by Ohio University, it has shown that a person who skips breakfast loses calcium from milk, vitamin C from fruit, fiber, and vitamins and minerals found in fortified cereals.

According to Dr. Marcela Garces, MD, RD, director and professor of the Brazilian Society of Nutrition, “Eating in the morning is a strategy to reduce calorie intake throughout the day and improve diet quality.”

“If the first meal of the day is sufficient and balanced, then it will be a lower calorie density, as avoiding breakfast increases anxiety over eating, causing hunger and craving for high-calorie foods, such as sweets, fried, salty and processed foods,” the doctor explains. .

Additionally, the study found that if a person did not eat the foods eaten for breakfast, they would not remember eating them during the day. “Therefore, these common nutrients at breakfast become a nutritional gap,” the dietitian emphasizes.

According to the USDA, calcium, potassium, fiber, and vitamin D are food components of general health concern for the general population, because deficiency of these nutrients is associated with health problems.

Dr. Marcella says most of the research on breakfast has focused on the effects of missing breakfast on children at school, which include difficulty concentrating and behavioral problems.

“A good breakfast is fuel for the brain. Neurons use glucose as the mainstay for energy, so breakfast contributes to performing activities that require attention and thought.”

In this study, the team used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which collects health information from a nationwide representative sample of about 5,000 people each year through interviews, lab tests and physical exams.

This study’s sample included 30,889 adults aged 19 and over who participated in the survey between 2005 and 2016. 15.2% of the participants, or 4,924 adults, reported skipping breakfast.

In several of the key recommendations evaluated, from fiber and magnesium to copper and zinc, those who skipped breakfast took in fewer vitamins and minerals than those who didn’t eat breakfast. The differences were most pronounced for folate, calcium, iron, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and D.

“People who ate breakfast ate more total calories than people who didn’t eat breakfast, but lunch, dinner, and snacks were significantly higher for people who skipped breakfast and were on a lower quality diet.”

“This shows that those who skipped breakfast have a nutritional profile deficient in nutrients and those who eat breakfast have a different nutritional profile.”

A healthy breakfast contains all the balanced macronutrients, i.e. proteins of high biological value, such as eggs, low-fat cheese, yogurt, soybeans and chickpea proteins, and healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains, oats, fruits, and good fats, which Include seed oil and olive oil. Medical monitoring is essential for a healthy diet that meets the needs of each individual,” concludes the specialist.

Source: Dr. Marcela Garces, MD, MSc in Health Sciences from PUCPR School of Medicine, Director of the Brazilian Society of Dietetics and Professor of the National Dietetics Course at ABRAN. (CRM-PR 12559 and RQE 16019).