What to Eat When You Don’t Have an Appetite at Breakfast

If you struggle to eat food in the morning, you’re not alone! Many individuals choose not to eat breakfast most days because they do not feel hungry enough to eat before their day begins. Keep reading to find out why you might not be hungry and what foods you should eat when your appetite at breakfast is low.

Benefits of Breakfast

Despite having a low to no appetite, you should still eat food in the morning to stay energized throughout the day. Even if it is just a small snack to get your day going, eating food in the morning can have the following benefits (Scheer, 2013):

• Boost brain power
• Boost metabolism
• Improved blood sugar regulation
• Better nutrition
• Heart healthy

These benefits can improve health outcomes and prevent chronic disease. Eating breakfast can also help individuals maintain a healthy weight by preventing overeating late in the day and keeping blood sugar levels stable. Overall, it is important to prioritize eating a carbohydrate and protein combination for breaking your fast in the morning to sustain balanced energy levels throughout your day.

Common Reasons for Not Having an Appetite at Breakfast

There can be many individual reasons for not being hungry, but a few common ones that may be causing your lack of appetite in the morning are as follows:

• Hormones have the biggest impact on signaling to your body that you are hungry. It is likely that if you are not feeling hungry in the morning it is due to hormones. The hormone ghrelin is produced in the gut and tells your body that it is hungry. The hormones leptin and CCK tell your body that you are full when done eating. These hormones can become imbalanced which is why they may not be doing their job in the morning (Scheer, 2013).
• Eating a big meal the night before can lower the appetite that you have in the morning. The size of the meal may sustain your body through the morning and feelings of hunger won’t set in until closer to the afternoon.
• Hunger cues in the morning could be dependent on the body’s circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is the 24-hour cycle that each individual body goes through to regulate when to be asleep and when to be awake. This cycle has been related to metabolism in past research which is why researchers believe it might be related to hunger in the morning (Scheer, 2013).

Easy Foods to Eat When you don’t have an Appetite at Breakfast

Another reason many people skip breakfast is because they are unaware of quick, easy, and affordable breakfast options that will keep them full longer. A few that we have gathered for reference are as follows! The important thing to make sure of when choosing an option for something light is to be sure you have a protein and carbohydrate combination!

A few ideas!

• Avocado toast with an egg
• Yogurt or cottage cheese with berries
• Apples with peanut butter
• Cheese stick with fruit
• Oatmeal with protein powder
• Smoothie with protein powder
• Eggs with rice
• Hummus and whole-grain crackers

These options could have many different variations but are a great place to start because many ingredients people have in their fridge do not take a long time to prepare during a busy morning. If you have no appetite for food, it would be recommended to choose whichever option sounds the best for your body, and if modifications need to be made that is okay! Giving your body fuel to start the day is the main point!

Reference:

Scheer, F. A., Morris, C. J., & Shea, S. A. (2013). The internal circadian clock increases hunger and appetite in the evening independent of food intake and other behaviors. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 21(3), 421–423. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20351