News / Health & healing

You know by now that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that if you don’t put something in your stomach, it will be moaning at you by noon.

No matter what meal it is, your plate should be half fruits and vegetables, a quarter whole grain, and a quarter protein. The protein doesn’t just provide the fuel to help you leave the house. If you just have carbs at breakfast, your metabolism is off for the whole day. How hungry you feel is based off two factors: how much you eat and what you eat. If you don’t eat protein at breakfast, you’re going into lunch feeling ravenous. When you’re ravenous, you make poorer choices.

There's another reason skimping on protein at breakfast hurts you, too: Since your system can only utilize 30 grams at a time, if you don't have enough of this nutrient in the a.m., it can hard to be take in enough throughout the rest of the day. Most women need about 80 to 100 grams of protein a day, although the exact amount you should be getting depends on your weight and activity level. You don't have to eat a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs to take in enough protein. It could be eggs and cheese with fruit on the side. Hummus is a great source, or tofu, or edamame.