Should You Eat Breakfast If You Are Not Hungry?
You’ve heard time and again that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you skip breakfast, you’ll gain weight. BUT, what if you wake up in the morning, and you are just not hungry?
THE ANSWER: Listen to your hunger and satiety signals! Don’t eat simply because it’s 7 a.m. Eat when you’re hungry, whether that’s 6:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.
THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS – people who do likely need to eat something first thing in the morning. They include individuals who have insulin-dependent diabetes as well as those taking medications in the morning that must be swallowed with food.
BUT for the majority of us this “EAT WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY’ rule should be followed.
What Not To Eat?
If you skip breakfast, or start the day with a simple carbohydrate meal, such as a store bought protein or granola bar, cereal or sugar laden smoothie, and you find yourself irresistibly eating a big meal too close to bed time, try a substantial protein-rich breakfast. Your first meal may help stabilize your blood sugar, keeping you off the appetite roller coaster. On the other hand, if you feel lousy after your morning meal, make sure that refined sugars, allergens or chemicals in your breakfast aren’t triggering symptoms. Eliminating gluten, dairy, preservatives and/or artificial food coloring may relieve your post-breakfast blahs.
What Should You Eat?
A healthy breakfast should be packed with protein and fiber to keep you full until lunchtime and give you sustained energy all morning long. Wholesome food is best for breakfast; juices or low protein and low fiber drinks transit quickly through your stomach and dump sugar rapidly into your bloodstream, triggering HUNGER AND SUGAR CRAVINGS!
If you opt for a SMOOTHIE, add a couple of scoops of PROTEIN POWDER to your fresh or frozen fruit; add healthy fat with a tablespoon or two of extra virgin coconut oil, half an avocado or some crushed walnuts. Fat slows gastric emptying and KEEPS YOU FULLER LONGER; and consider sources of fiber like chia, hemp, or flax seeds-which also act to “time-release” the carbs in the smoothie.
Make sure you eat right for your breakfast type!
