Skipping breakfast is not a good way to start the day. Yet some 30 per cent of all 18- to 24-year-olds don't eat breakfast regularly and almost a quarter of Dubliners frequently don't bother eating first thing in the morning, according to a survey last week.
Research carried out by MRBI for Retail Intelligence and Kelloggs (which of course has a vested interest in getting more people to eat breakfast) also showed that women are better at eating breakfast than men and that those over 65 are the least likely to miss their morning meal.
"Breakfast is important because it gets the blood sugar levels back up after a night of fasting," says nutritional therapist Alison Cullen. "If you don't eat breakfast you can spend the rest of the day trying to haul your blood sugar level back up with artificial stimulants while feeling headachy."
So what should you eat to start the day?
Ideal:
What's ideal depends on the individual. Some people do really well on a protein-rich breakfast; others thrive on lots of carbohydrates, such as a bowl of porridge or cereal, while for some a fruit breakfast is great.
Many benefit from not eating too much wheat and choosing oatcakes or ricecakes instead of bread made from wheat.
Not bad:
Toast and jam; eggs cooked any way (other than fried) on bread; even a cooked breakfast that's not fried - try grilling instead.
On the go:
Any fresh fruit. A mixture of dried fruit and seeds such as sunflower and pumpkin seeds are great for lots of minerals and essential fatty acids.
Dried fruit provides complex sugars which don't shoot your blood sugar
levels up and then let them crash down again.
Better than nothing:
Eating something is better than eating nothing, although an artery-blocking fried breakfast is bad news even if
you're someone who thrives on a protein-rich start to the day.
Don't even think about it:
An espresso with three sugars and a cigarette.