Every morning we open our eyes, brush our teeth, get dressed, and head out to start our day. A majority of us, however, tend to skip over the most important meal of the day: breakfast. As college students, we are willing to sacrifice an entire meal just to get those few extra minutes of sleep. Some even say they don’t have the appetite for eating in the morning because it is too early. Eating breakfast is crucial because it sets the tone for starting off your day right and comes with multiple benefits.

Eating a nutritious breakfast actually promotes weight loss and helps maintain a healthy weight. Studies have shown that eating a good breakfast can maintain blood glucose levels, which speeds up metabolism and gives the body more energy. Most of us like to think that not eating one meal can lower our calorie intake and help lose weight more effectively. This, however, is not true as eating breakfast decreases your calorie intake each day and prevents binge eating, which in effect leads to less weight gain. In short, you are more likely to overeat and consume more calories throughout the day if you skip breakfast.

Eating breakfast not only helps maintain a healthy weight, but it helps improve academic performance as well. There is a very good reason why our teachers and professors tell us to eat a good breakfast on the day of a test. It allows students to do better on exams and achieve high test scores because it boosts cognitive performance, memory, and concentration. Students who eat breakfast are also more likely to calmly solve difficult tasks throughout the day, preventing frustration and tiredness.

When eating breakfast, it’s important to make healthy choices since some breakfast items are better than others. Milk and cereal with fruits, bagels with cream cheese, omelet with cheese and vegetables, and toast with jam are some healthier food items compared to pancakes with syrup, pizza, or straight up carbohydrates. If time is an issue, waking up earlier may be a good solution.

As cliché as it may sound, breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. You may want to rethink skipping breakfast the next time you don’t feel like eating or are running short on time, because you may be missing out on nutritious benefits.