Did you know that eating a healthy breakfast regularly helps protect you from developing type 2 diabetes? Several studies have shown that eating a healthy breakfast can help prevent insulin resistance — a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

To understand how eating a healthy breakfast can help waive off insulin resistance (which develops as a result of unhealthy eating behaviours and inactivity), let’s summarise the healthy breakfast cycle in five simple steps:

1. Your breakfast provides a source of healthy carbohydrates (whole grains, fruit), healthy protein (all natural nut butters, eggs, nuts, fish) and a small amount of healthy fat (avocado, flaxseed, and plant-based oils/spreads). A balance of these foods at breakfast provides supreme fuel, nourishing your body. Research suggests that people who consume a supreme fuel breakfast on a regular basis meet their nutritional needs (ie calcium, iron, B vitamins, etc) as compared to those who skip out or choose a quick muffin (aka not-so-supreme fuel) on their way to work. Talk to a registered dietitian about how you can improve your breakfast meal or just get started based on your lifestyle and individual health goals.

2. You eat a healthy breakfast and you ‘break the fast’. Providing a source of fuel to your body before you start your day, helps provide your body with sufficient energy to keep blood sugar levels normalised.

When blood sugar levels are kept within normal range, individuals are less likely to feel sluggish, tired and moody. Research shows that children who eat breakfast perform better in school supporting the theory that breakfast can help to increase focus, concentration and memory. It is also worth mentioning that for many people, eating breakfast can help fight off cravings for high-sugar foods. Reflect: Have there been days where breakfast was skipped, delayed or maybe not so balanced? Can you recall how these days ended? Were you hungry for anything salty and/or sugary, more tempted than usual to eat out as your energy levels seemed to plummet?

3. If you have made the connection between breakfast and energy levels, keep reading! Breakfast helps to keep you energised throughout the day. Having energy results in higher productivity; for example, you may find that you are more likely to engage in exercise.

For those who have already developed a regular exercise regime, a healthy breakfast will give you more ‘bang for your buck’ thanks to glycogen (stores of glucose in our muscle that our body creates when we break the fast). Energy stores will work to help push you harder in your spin class, morning run or evening walks! It can also help you enjoy exercise, and keep you coming back for more!

4. Lunch and dinner are just as important as breakfast; however those who eat a healthy breakfast will have an easier time eating healthy at other meals throughout the day. Why? It goes back to the normalised blood sugar and energy level theory: we are less likely to overeat, eat too fast, and give into fast-style foods or not so healthy food cravings.

5. You may now see that after a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner, your former night-time munching or hunger pangs have become a thing of the past. With late-night eating/snacking removed, you allow your body to experience a much more comfortable sleep and a true sensation of ‘hunger’ in the morning. If you have made it this far, you have now entered the healthy breakfast cycle — congratulations!

It has helped you meet your nutrient needs, fight off not so healthy food cravings, engage in physical activity and result in a more productive day — all factors contributing to our physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

We also are role modelling healthy eating behaviours to others, such as our youth. This type of lifestyle, as well as healthy role modelling, will help to prevent insulin resistance and thus type 2 diabetes in ourselves and our community as a whole.

This article is part of a series organised by Bermuda Hospitals Board in honour of Diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Awareness Month.

Jessika Quigley is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator. She works at the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s DREAM Centre.