BREAKFAST LIKE A KING, LUNCH LIKE A PRINCE, DINE LIKE A PAUPER

This ancient proverb has more than a grain of truth in it, but sadly, most people leading

today's busy lives skip breakfast altogether. This is really bad news as ideally you should be

getting 25 percent of your day's calories from breakfast, enough to keep you going right

through till lunchtime, both physically and mentally. Starting the day without refuelling your

body's engine means poor concentration, irritability, low blood sugar and a dreadful craving

for the biscuit tin or chocolate bar in the middle of the morning.

Five million people don't bother to eat breakfast at home but grab a snack while dashing to

work. They consume one and a half million bacon sandwiches, over a million packets of

crisps, and three-quarters of a million ham sandwiches and more than a million sugary soft

drinks. But worse still, half the working population skip breakfast altogether and another half

a million grab a bag of sweets or bar of chocolate on their way.

Breakfast is exactly what it says, breaking your fast, and for most people the time they spend

in bed is the longest period they go without food. When you get up in the morning it may

easily be 8 – 12 hours since you last ate and your blood sugar level is at rock bottom. In

order for your brain to function properly it needs a constant supply of sugar which is why

starting your day with breakfast is so important. Skipping breakfast means poorer

performance by schoolchildren, a greater risk of accidents when driving, and a lack of

efficiency and concentration at work.

And just to prove the point, a study published last year showed that people who ate breakfast

were definitely happier than those who didn't.

Very few of my patients ever admit to having the great British fry-up