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How you feed your body first thing in the morning sets the tone for the rest of your day, fueling your daily activities and providing sustained energy. Your food choices support a healthy metabolism and can work to enhance weight loss, but while there are many viable options to start your day with, there are also breakfast foods that can leave you feeling sluggish and negatively affect your metabolism. If you’re working towards a weight loss goal or simply want to create a healthier routine, according to health experts there is one type of food that should be avoided in the morning to preserve your metabolism.
High fat, processed foods, while not particularly healthy at any time of the day, should be avoided in the mornings due to their lack of nutritional value. Certified health coach Lynell Ross explains, “If you don’t want a sluggish metabolism, then avoid highly processed foods made from white flour and sugar because they have been stripped of their nutrients and like high fat foods, they change how your body breaks down the food to absorb those nutrients.”
Your body depends on a certain quantity of macronutrients throughout the day to leave you full and satisfied, and processed, high fat foods instead work to weigh you down without actually filling you up. “When you eat high fat, high sugar and processed white flour foods, you affect your body’s blood sugar and the way your pancreas uses insulin. Insulin resistance is linked to being overweight, and obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease,” Ross explains.
Maintaining a speedy metabolism is important because it allows your body to process the nutrients from food at a faster rate, providing you with fuel to function throughout your day. When you start off your morning with foods that offer no nutritional value and serve only as empty calories, your body will burn through it much faster and you’ll find yourself needing to eat sooner to fill in the gaps. This will ultimately slow your metabolism and you will end up consuming more calories than needed throughout the day, making it harder to maintain a calorie deficit for weight loss.
While you can enjoy any food in moderation, for your day to day breakfast it’s best to avoid high fat, processed foods in order for your body to run properly. Particularly in the morning, when you eat foods that are lacking nutrional value you’re creating an uphill battle against these eating habits without properly nourishing your body. As you plan meals to enjoy each day, focus on foods that are a good source of macronutrients to provide you with ample energy to maintain a speedy metabolism and keep your body running smoothly.
