Eating a proper breakfast is the key to your good health and productivity:
- Improves Memory, Focus, Concentration, Behavior, and learning in School Age Children – Review of Medical Literature
- Increases IQ in school age children – Regular breakfast consumption and its relationship to IQ
- Functional MRIs show increase in Grey Matter and IQ in Japanese Children who ate Low Glycemic Index Breakfast (increase in Grey Matter means better brain development)
- Increases Creativity and Productivity – Fruits and Veggies and The Connection to Creativity and Productivity, Harvard Business Review agrees
- Decreases Binging on Garbage Foods – University of Missouri Study on Adult Women with Functional MRI
- Skipping Breakfast Costs UK companies 300 million pounds a year in Productivity Loss according to the prestigious investigations of the Daily Mail
Why do people continue to skip breakfast?
Problem #1: Not Enough Time
People wait until the last moment to get out of bed and/or they hit the snooze a million times. This generally happens because of not enough sleep. Not enough sleep is most often the result of being on Facebook or Instagram late into the night out of fear of missing out. Also, our phones interfere with our productivity throughout the day, causing us to work late into the night.
Solution:
- turn off electronics 1-2hrs before bed ( I promise, emails, texts, social life will wait.)
- do not sleep with the phone in the bedroom EVER. Target sells alarm clocks for $8.
- get organized the night before
- MOMS!! Put kids in charge of getting book bags, lunches, and clothes ready the night before.
- consider healthy breakfast on the go like a banana and Homemade Granola Bars
Problem #2: Morning Nausea
This happens because of not enough sleep, which leads to messed up cortisol levels (stress hormone). When the alarm jars you awake, cortisol levels spike un-naturally leading to nausea. Also, heavy meals before bed, especially those loaded with carbs – pasta, rice, bread, etc. increase the risk for reflux at night, leading to morning nausea. Lastly, supplements and medications taken before bed or first thing in the morning may cause nausea
Solution:
- keep your dinner light with chicken, fish, pork. Bake, don’t fry. Keep carbs to a minimum. Add lots of veggies. No fast food.
- eat at least 2 hrs before bed
- change the time of supplements and medications with your doctor’s help
Problem #3: Not Hungry in the Morning
This is generally because you are feeling rushed in the morning, see Problem #1. Stress will keep you preoccupied with other things, and breakfast gets overlooked. Skipping meals throughout the day and then eating heavy meals before bed will slow your metabolism down, leading to slower and improper digestion. See Problem #2.
Solution:
- get your mornings organized the night before, this may mean less Insta & FB
- make 5 Ingredient Egg Casserole on Sunday and portion out weekday mornings
- eat lighter, less carbed meals no closer then 2 hrs to bed time
- start with small meals and keep it simple – Smoothies, Home made Muffins (made Sunday), Muffins Loaded with Protein, Toast + Nut Butter + strawberries
In Good Health, Ana-Maria Temple, MD
Photo Credit: Berko Learning Academy, Chicago Now, What to Expect, Alarm Clock
