Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. Nutrition and diet experts have this one common and oft-repeated catchphrase that they keep reminding their clientele about- never skip breakfast! Apart from providing you with the requisite energy for the rest of the day, your morning meal is important for keeping you healthy and even improving your emotional and mental well-being. The fact that skipping breakfast is an unhealthy practice is acknowledged universally, as it may lead to weight gain and even cause heart problems.So if you’re someone who’s been trying to lose weight for some time now and are wondering why your diets and workouts aren’t leading to fruition, you might want to re-evaluate your breakfasting strategy! So now that we’ve established that eating breakfast is important, we must turn to what exactly is the ideal, healthy breakfast made up of. Doing breakfast right isn’t exactly rocket science, but it can still be confusing, given the variety of breakfast dishes that we have as options.

Here are 3 qualities that a good breakfast must have:

1. Nutrient-Rich

An ideal breakfast must be tasty and nutritious. But if you have to choose either, you must always choose nutrition over taste for breakfast. Go for foods that have a nutrient-dense profile and are able to supply your body with enough energy to help you power through your busy morning schedule. This is why you must add more fruits and vegetables to your breakfast, as they are rich in essential vitamins and minerals.

2. Low Glycemic Index

Glycemic index is the measure that ranks food according to the effect they have on the level of blood sugar in your body. Foods with low glycemic index include complex carbohydrates that are digested slowly by the system. These are ideal as breakfast foods as these cause slower and smaller rise in blood sugar levels. Foods with complex carbohydrates include cereals like oats and muesli, whole wheat foods and dairy products like milk, yogurt, custard, etc.

3. Non-greasy

While eating deep fried pooris or bhaturas for breakfast might seem like a tempting prospect, it’s not a very healthy practice. They’re likely to make you feel sluggish and heavy, making you slow down. Greasy foods are likely to make you feel tired easily, making it difficult for you to be efficient and quick.

Many nutrition experts recommend a high-energy and low-calorie breakfast that is nutritious and high on satiety. You need your morning meal to make you feel full and energetic for longer, without loading you up with sugar or unhealthy fats. Therefore, always examine the kind of nutrients and compounds you are feeding your body. After all, what goes in the first thing in the morning, sets the tone for the rest of the day.