The Most Important Meal
Everyone has heard the quote “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. I mean really who hasn’t heard that at some point? It’s everywhere. But what’s behind it? The first meal of the day gets a ton of press, but many do not know why. In reality, there probably isn’t one meal that is the “most” important but really every meal provides critical nutrients to the body allowing to functioning properly. i believe that breakfast gets so much press because it is the meal that too many people miss. It is the easiest to skip. Whether that’s due to sleep or work schedules or the ability to just drink a cup of coffee and feel good, that does not mean the body is receiving the necessary nutrients.
Breakfast is an important meal because it sets the body up for the rest of the day. Food is the body’s fuel. It is the gas to the engine that is the human body. If you don’t put gas in your car, you won’t travel very far down the road. The same goes for the human body. Breakfast is the stop at the gas station before the road trip that is each day. It has been shown that when breakfast is missed, that energy intake over the day is lower even when a larger lunch was consumed in an effort to make sure for the lost meal (Cornford & Mercalfe, 2019). This indicates that you cannot just make up for lost fuel with additional food and energy at the following meal. Meaning that skipping a meal is losing out on critical fuel for the body.
So, eating breakfast is a good thing. Making sure that the body is fueled for the day ahead is important and requires a dedicated meal, not just more food at the following meal. This first meal of the day has a large impact even on performance later that day into the evening. Cornford and Metcalfe (2019) saw that missing a carbohydrate or energy rich breakfast had significant impact on rowing performance that evening. Carbohydrates can get a back rap, but they are a key fuel for the body as this study indicates because with a breakfast the included this nutrient, they found that evening athletic performance was greatly impacted. But what about protein? Protein is an important nutrient as well because it is the building blocks of muscle. Yasuda et al. (2020) demonstrated that eating a protein-rich breakfast had a significant impact on muscle hypertrophy and muscle mass in those that participated in a resistance training program. A breakfast meal that includes balanced nutrients is important to setting the body up for success for the day ahead.
Breakfast is a very important meal to consume each day. Each meal that a person consumes is critical to how their body responds or reacts to the activities required of it. Breakfast sets the tone. It allows for the body to be fueled and energized heading into the day which was been shown to positive impact performance much later in the day (Cornford & Metcalfe, 2019). It also can build a base of nutrients like proteins in the body so that when physical stressors like exercise occurs, the body is able to respond quickly and start to rebuild muscle tissue. In the end, breakfast is a meal that should not be forgotten. A well-balanced meal that provides nutrients to fuel the body is essential to how the body responds to stresses it receives throughout that subsequent day.
-Tyler Grisdale, MS, CSCS, RSCC, CES, TPI
References
Yasuda, Jun., Tomita, Toshiki., Arimitsu, Takuma., Fujita, Satoshi (2020). Evenly Distributed Protein Intake over 3 Meals Augments Resistance Exercise–Induced Muscle Hypertrophy in Healthy Young Men, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 150, Issue 7, Pages 1845–1851, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa101
Cornford, Elizabeth & Metcalfe, Richard (2019). Omission of carbohydrate-rich breakfast impairs evening 2000-m rowing time trial performance, European Journal of Sport Science, 19:1, 133-140, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1545052