Do you skip breakfast because you are too rushed in the morning or chose to skip breakfast due to a fasting routine? Skipping your breakfast could mean you are not meeting your daily needs for fibre. An adult needs between 25-38g of dietary fibre each day for your health. Fibre plays many important roles including helping you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, promote stable blood sugar levels, and reduce your risk of certain cancers. What you may not know is that including enough fibre in your diet each may may help reduce your risk of dying from any cause including death from heart disease.
5761 people were studied using data from 1999-2002. The researchers investigated the link between eating breakfast and consuming over 25g of dietary fibre each day with risk of death from any cause including death from heart disease.
Researchers found that those people who ate breakfast had a lower body mass index, consumed more calories over a day and ate more fibre each day than those people who skipped breakfast. The people who included more than 25g of dietary fibre each day were 21% less likely to die from any cause. In addition to this, those who skipped breakfast were at a 21% greater risk of developing type two diabetes and experience heart disease or die from heart disease than those who ate breakfast.
The take home message from this study is that breakfast may be needed in your day to give you more opportunity to meet your needed daily fibre needs. Fibre is filling and as a result you may need more meals to achieve your daily target. Including plant-based sources of food in every meal and snack can help you achieve your daily fibre needs. This includes wholegrains like wholegrain bread and couscous, quinoa, and wholegrain rice. Also, fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds.
Take home message: If you are not taking the time to eat breakfast each day you may be missing out on an essential meal which gives you the opportunity to meet your daily fibre needs. Achieving adequate fibre each day does not only support gut health but may help you live a longer and healthier life too. Taking the time to eat breakfast may be a worthy investment of your time in the morning.
Reference
King DE, Xiang J. A Relationship Between Mortality and Eating Breakfast and Fiber. J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 Jul-Aug;34(4):678-687. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2021.04.210044. PMID:
