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The Power Of A Good Breakfast

It's morning and your alarm clock is ringing your brains out. You quickly wake up, rush through your morning activities and zoom off to work. You barely had time to make yourself presentable, let alone spare some time for a bite. This is the normal routine of many Ghanaians, who in a bid to stay productive forget one of the major ingredients for a successful professional life: a good breakfast.

Why is breakfast so important? First, there’s the energy factor. Your brain like any machine needs the right fuel to operate effectively. Your brain's fuel is glucose, obtained from carbohydrates found in a good breakfast. No breakfast means a brain-energy slump by mid-morning. A good breakfast will give you a memory boost and improve concentration levels. It will also go a long way to improve your mood and lower stress levels. Whether you are student or a business executive, a good breakfast is the sure way to keep you sharp and make you outstanding.

The next reason is weight control. Many studies in both adults and children, have shown that breakfast eaters tend to weigh less than breakfast skippers. One theory suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can reduce hunger throughout the day, and help people make better food choices at other meals. While it might seem you could save calories by skipping breakfast, this is not an effective strategy. Typically, hunger gets the best of breakfast-skippers, and they eat more at lunch and throughout the day. Breakfast-eaters get their metabolism humming and tend not to consume as many calories during the entire day, so they wind up weighing less than those who don’t get the benefits of eating breakfast.

People who skip breakfast are also more likely to have high cholesterol and a larger waist size, than people who don't skip breakfast, according to a study published in December 2010 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." This effect was most pronounced in people who skipped breakfast both as children and as adults.

Finally, you may be jeopardising your long-term health. A University of Nottingham study found that those who skipped breakfast were more resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance increases the risk of developing diabetes.

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The following are some tips on how to prepare a good breakfast:

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Remember to breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper!

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