10 Reasons Why Breakfast Is Important

Everyone knows breakfast is important. Or at least everyone seems to understand breakfast is important—we even have a whole saying about ranking the meals in a day based on importance, and breakfast is the only meal mentioned in that saying! But do you know why? You will after you read our 10 reasons why breakfast is important!

1. Get Ready for the Day

This morning meal  is your first opportunity of the day to do something nice for yourself, and we heartily encourage you to do it. Whether it’s a cup of coffee and a bagel while you catch up on the morning news for 10 minutes or a stack of pancakes at the kitchen table while you catch up with your kids, taking time for breakfast helps you set your priorities for the day—and make sure one of those priorities is yourself and your family.

2. Help Stabilize Your Blood Sugar

Quick science lesson: Glucose (the sugar in your blood) is your body’s preferred fuel. Anything you eat is converted into glucose, then any excess glucose that isn’t used by your body is converted into fat and stored for later. People tend to feel better, think better, and regulate emotions better when their blood sugar levels are more stable throughout the day, rather than peaking and crashing over and over.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by eating balanced meals that contain protein, fat and carbohydrates (focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and dietary fiber). If you start your day out with a balanced meal, you’ll be less likely to get “hangry” or hit a mid-morning slump.

Consider eating slow-digesting foods like oatmeal, eggs, or a low-sugar, protein-boosted smoothie.

3. Get More Micronutrients

Over and over, studies show that people who eat breakfast get more vitamins, minerals and fiber—all are vital micronutrients—throughout the day. Are they loading up on delicious, nutritious veggie-stuffed omelets and fresh fruit? Are they overcompensating by eating healthier to make up for the three donuts they had with their morning coffee? The studies don’t get that specific, but either way, we consider more micronutrients a win for breakfast-eaters!

4. Improve Your Mood

Even if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, waffles will still love to see your moody little face! And there’s a benefit here for you too (besides eating waffles, which we firmly believe is its own reward): eating a balanced breakfast helps to support brain activity that works to regulate and respond to emotions, calibrate expectations, and improve impulse control, which relates to your behaviors and decision-making.

5. Manage Your Appetite

Let’s look back at that blood sugar thing for a second, because another thing wildly fluctuating blood sugar will do is make you crave more sugar for the rest of the day. Every time your blood sugar peaks and crashes, your body will send you signals that it’s starving—because as far as your body’s concerned, it is; there was a lot of glucose, then it got processed, now there’s no more.

You can stop this cycle by eating foods that take longer to digest, which will keep your body feeling full for longer than meals and snacks that are mostly carbohydrates (think of what you’d see in a vending machine, it’s the majority of that). Whenever possible, opt for high-quality protein, healthy fats, and/or fiber: eggs, yogurt, oatmeal, cottage cheese, nuts, and fruit are all filling and will help keep you full longer.

6. Get Healthier

An easy way to jump start your overall immune system health is to eat fermented foods. If you immediately pulled a face thinking of kimchi or sauerkraut with your bacon and eggs… try it out, you might like it!

If you’re still a no on the more intense fermented foods so early in the day, cheese and yogurt are both common breakfast foods that are fermented. They can include the probiotics you need to develop more robust gut health—and your gut health is a shockingly large part of having a strong immune system!

7. Your Kid Could Be Even Smarter

Studies show children who eat a healthy breakfast perform better in school. This takes into account both scores on standardized tests and reported performance in key areas like reading and math. Since breakfast improves concentration, alertness, comprehension, memory and learning, it follows that breakfast is an important way for you to help support your child’s academic success.

8. Get a Raise at Work

Observational studies have shown that people who eat a balanced breakfast before engaging in deep mental work demonstrate improved concentration and increased productivity throughout the day.

Two traits employers consistently say they look for in employees are productivity and attention to detail. Is this enough to claim that eating breakfast will get you promoted? No, of course not, but it couldn’t hurt—and if that doesn’t do the trick, just go old school and find out what coffee your boss likes.

9. Make Your Life Easier

Conversely, people who skip breakfast tend to report having lower energy levels, more difficulty concentrating on tasks, and display less strength and endurance when doing physical activity.

That sounds just awful, and grabbing an energy drink and candy bar at the vending machine isn’t an ideal long term solution. The initial rush might feel great, and you’ll feel productive (if maybe a little unfocused), but it’s a lot of sugar and caffeine all at once, which your body goes into overdrive to process. Once the rush is over, you might experience a “sugar crash,” a “caffeine crash,” or both!

Consider avoiding all this by eating breakfast in the morning. If you don’t have time to make breakfast in the morning, try making something you can prepare in advance, like overnight oats.

10. You Can Eat Delicious Breakfast Food at Kate’s Kitchen!

Our tenth and final reason that makes breakfast so important is that you would be doing yourself a huge disservice by not eating this most important meal of the day, what with delicious breakfast restaurants like Kate’s Kitchen being so close to you! So now that we’ve filled you in on the importance of breakfast, come on down to Kate’s and get filled up! 

Try Kate’s Breakfast Sandwich, made with two fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon or ham, plus melted cheese, served on a grilled croissant with sides of seasoned fruit and potatoes. It’s a good balance of the nutrients you need to keep you going from morning until lunch—but the best part is how good it tastes.

Take a look at our breakfast menu!

Give us a call if you want to place a to-go order!

Kate’s Kitchen… (816) 436-7200

Ronnie’s Restaurant… (913) 831-8600