Breakfast provides a significant proportion of your daily quota of nutrient intake like vitamins, minerals and fiber. It therefore boosts the energy levels as well as the metabolism for the day. Eating a nutritious breakfast will help in keeping hunger at bay and this will in turn prevents over eating later in the day. It also enables you to resist high calorie and fatty foods.

Whoever said have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper, got it absolutely right. Since breakfast is the meal with which you are breaking a fast after nearly 12 hours, the body needs the refuelling to start the day well. Studies show that a nutritious breakfast is especially important for children and busy working professionals to get them through the day.

Benefits of a healthy breakfast -

1) Improved cognitive performance and productivity

2) Increased strength and physical endurance

3) Improved concentration and memory

3) Helps in weight control

4) Lowers cholesterol levels

5) Kick starts your metabolism for the day

6) Regulates blood sugar levels

7) Makes you happier and improves your mood. Not eating breakfast for a long period results in low blood sugar which in turn affects your mood

According to nutritionists, your body starts to shut down the longer you go without eating. The brain starts focusing on conserving the energy it has left and shuts down what it thinks are the non-essential activities like concentration and problem solving skills.

A healthy breakfast comprises of a variety of nutrients like complex carbohydrates, protein, calcium, iron, B Vitamins and fiber. In case you are one of those people who don't feel hungry in the mornings, you could start with a small portion like a slice of toast, an idli or a glass of soy milk. Once your body gets used to this try and add more to the quantity. If you are the type who never has time in the morning and are rushing out with just enough time to grab a buttered toast or a cup of coffee and banana for breakfast, just remember that if you plan well the previous night, you really need not compromise on the most important meal of the day. So go ahead and put that spring in your step with a bowl full of morning goodness! 

No Breakfast - 

If you skip breakfast in the morning, you're more likely to be hungry for a snack before lunch. And when you're thinking with your stomach, you might reach for an unhealthy snack instead of something more nutritious. 

Even if you're not hungry when you first wake up, eating a nutritious, small meal will fuel your body into the afternoon, preventing you from feeling those mid-morning hunger pangs. Opt for a piece of whole-grain toast with peanut butter, or a bowl of whole-grain cereal with milk, even if you aren't feeling hungry first thing in the morning.

Unhealthy Breakfast -

A breakfast full of sugar and refined carbohydrates, like white bread or instant noodles, might fill you up for several minutes, but it won't satisfy you for the whole morning. Refined carbohydrates turn immediately to sugar in the body, leaving you feeling jittery and unsatisfied. 

Instead, eat a breakfast that is loaded with complex carbohydrates, which take longer to digest and keep you feeling full for longer periods of time.

Additionally, if you eat a breakfast full of junk, you might be more likely to continue making unhealthy food choices for the rest of the day. Start the day loaded with nutritious, whole-grain carbohydrates like oat porridge with vegetables or a bowl of whole-grain cereal with milk. Nothing to beat a traditional Indian Breakfast of Chapatis / idli / dosa / upma, cheela etc.