More often than not, you'll hear from a friend or co-worker - or are yourself very much guilty of committing this atrocity - that they had to rush out of the house in the morning having skipped breakfast and that they'll make up for it with a heft lunch.
*cue gameshow contestant fail beeper*
I won't go over the cliché "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" baloney we've all come to expect and ignore. That being said, its importance as a starter meal and metabolism booster for your entire day cannot be stressed further.
Think of your body as a constantly churning engine. During your slumber (and most people in my circles sleep 8+ hours) your body was running low on fuel, maybe your dinner was light or maybe you skipped it altogether. That means you've left your rancid bowels completely devoid of any nutrients. Do you realize what you've done you dimwitted imbecile? Why! You've only just given your body the green light to start catabolizing itself.
Most people's eyes will glimmer at the very thought - after you had to Google the word "catabolize" of course - thinking that it means the body will be going through the fat reserves, helping you lose body fat while doing jack shit; the ultimate utopia basically.
Unfortunately for you, more often than not, that means tapping into your - more than likely - limited muscle stores. You see, fat is dandy and all for producing energy to keep the cogs in your little engine running, sadly however, your body sometimes needs a bit of an extra kick than fat can deliver.
Let's science this bitch up real quick.
Fat is composed of fatty acids. These fatty acids are liberated from lipoproteins by liopoprotein lipase and enter the adipocyte where they are re-assembled into triglycerides into glycerol via the magical process of esterifying. Fun Fact: Human fat tissue contains roughly 87% lipids.
Fats are most notably the energy source of choice by your body during long bouts of activity since your carbohydrates storage (the body's first choice) are usually very quickly depleted at the beginning since they are meant for short-burst high intensity excursions. The only problem we face here is that while fat makes an excellent energy source, it lacks certain key ingredients which are necessary for numerous bodily functions - namely amino acids. Or as you may know them, proteins.
You may or may not know that your body conducts the majority of its overhaul and restoration of your cells and body tissues during your slumber as decreased activity and your hormonal balance creates optimum conditions for it. Fixing and building new cells and tissues (especially if you workout often) means that the presence of proteins is a must.
This bring us back to our original topic of discussion regarding the importance of breakfast. When you wake up from your slumber, you may not be aware, but your body is desperately craving nutrients to help replace all which was lost during your catabolism phase. A recommended breakfast is always one which supplies a steady stream of proteins, carbohydrates and a good dose of fats.
Think two whole boiled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal with banana. Think peanut butter with banana on brown toast with an egg white omelette. It can be whatever you want it to be, just mind that delicate balance of micronutrients in your meals in order to ensure your body gets the right nutrients at the right time.
Until we meet again...
*cue gameshow contestant fail beeper*
I won't go over the cliché "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" baloney we've all come to expect and ignore. That being said, its importance as a starter meal and metabolism booster for your entire day cannot be stressed further.
Think of your body as a constantly churning engine. During your slumber (and most people in my circles sleep 8+ hours) your body was running low on fuel, maybe your dinner was light or maybe you skipped it altogether. That means you've left your rancid bowels completely devoid of any nutrients. Do you realize what you've done you dimwitted imbecile? Why! You've only just given your body the green light to start catabolizing itself.
Most people's eyes will glimmer at the very thought - after you had to Google the word "catabolize" of course - thinking that it means the body will be going through the fat reserves, helping you lose body fat while doing jack shit; the ultimate utopia basically.
Unfortunately for you, more often than not, that means tapping into your - more than likely - limited muscle stores. You see, fat is dandy and all for producing energy to keep the cogs in your little engine running, sadly however, your body sometimes needs a bit of an extra kick than fat can deliver.
Let's science this bitch up real quick.
Fat is composed of fatty acids. These fatty acids are liberated from lipoproteins by liopoprotein lipase and enter the adipocyte where they are re-assembled into triglycerides into glycerol via the magical process of esterifying. Fun Fact: Human fat tissue contains roughly 87% lipids.
Fats are most notably the energy source of choice by your body during long bouts of activity since your carbohydrates storage (the body's first choice) are usually very quickly depleted at the beginning since they are meant for short-burst high intensity excursions. The only problem we face here is that while fat makes an excellent energy source, it lacks certain key ingredients which are necessary for numerous bodily functions - namely amino acids. Or as you may know them, proteins.
You may or may not know that your body conducts the majority of its overhaul and restoration of your cells and body tissues during your slumber as decreased activity and your hormonal balance creates optimum conditions for it. Fixing and building new cells and tissues (especially if you workout often) means that the presence of proteins is a must.
This bring us back to our original topic of discussion regarding the importance of breakfast. When you wake up from your slumber, you may not be aware, but your body is desperately craving nutrients to help replace all which was lost during your catabolism phase. A recommended breakfast is always one which supplies a steady stream of proteins, carbohydrates and a good dose of fats.
Think two whole boiled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal with banana. Think peanut butter with banana on brown toast with an egg white omelette. It can be whatever you want it to be, just mind that delicate balance of micronutrients in your meals in order to ensure your body gets the right nutrients at the right time.
Until we meet again...
Thank you for this absolutely brilliant blog, keep up the exceptional work. There is, however, a small peice of information that I might be able to help with as a med. student and a biochemistry and nutrition veteran. while the lack of amino acids in fats is essentially one of the reasons why lack of breakfast may cause catabolism of muscle tissue, it is not the one main reason. The fact is the body cannot derive its entire energy requirements from triglyceride because some tissues, most importantly brain tissues, cannot metabolise fatty acid for energy, only glucose. While glycerol, the molecule that holds fatty acids together, can turn into glucose by a process called gluconeogenesis, fatty acids themselves can't. Consequently, blood glucose level must be kept at all times more or less withen acceptable limits. The body, therefore, searches for other glucose sources. Amino acids, for one, are capable of undergoing gluconeogenisis to help keep blood glucose constant. Sorry for getting too technical and missing the point but you strike me as a person who appreciates good and precise info. Again, thank you for the extremely useful blog and keep it up.
ReplyDeleteHey!
DeleteWith three years of pre-med under my belt before quitting med school myself, I know where you're coming from. But I don't want the blog to be too complicated to the average non-bio student reader. I know all of that but I felt there wasn't a way to simplify it enough to add it as part of the topic without deriving too much substance. Thanks for the feedback though!
Oh, that explains a whole damn lot. I knew there was more to that in-depth knowledge of metabolism than the average fitness freak.
ReplyDelete