Why is breakfast so important? By Melanie Flower (Nutritionist)

1. Fill up on yummy nutrients - Apart from providing us with energy, breakfast can provide essential nutrients that the body needs. If you go without breakfast, then you are just relying on lunch and dinner to get your daily nutrients.
2. Keeps those hunger pangs at bay - Eating a healthy breakfast helps to provide readily available energy for the rest of the day, missing it means you might end up relying on sugary snacks and caffeine to keep you going.
3. Keeps us on our toes - Breakfast helps wake you up, and studies show that people who eat breakfast are more alert and do better on tests than people who skip breakfast.
4. Gives us our fibre fix - Breakfast is a great opportunity to eat the foods you may not eat the rest of the day such as wholegrain cereals or fruit and nuts. Fibre is especially important to keep the digestive system healthy, and you feeling full.
5. Helps maintain a healthy weight - Research has repeatedly shown that people who eat breakfast have a better chance of losing weight, and keeping it off. Eating breakfast wakes up your metabolism and your digestive system after a long rest overnight.