Skipping breakfast leads to heart disease, study shows.

To make sure you start the new year the right and healthy way, take Wahanda's advice and eat a little brekkie before you start the rush of the day. I know i've got my breakfast sorted for the week, porridge yum :)

How do you like your eggs in the morning? You don’t? We can all be guilty of skipping breakfast, even if we know it is the most important meal of the day, but new research has shown it’s even more vital than we realised.

Regularly skipping breakfast can increase the risk of heart disease, a new report has shown – backing up previous claims (and so many of those adverts) that a healthy breakfast leads to a healthy heart.

Research shows that leaving the house on an empty stomach can lead to obesity, larger fat stores around the stomach and higher cholesterol levels - which are all major risk factors for heart disease. It can also trigger higher insulin levels in the blood - a warning sign of diabetes.

The greatest risk is for those who didn’t have breakfast as children and carried on the habit to adulthood. As the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that, by the time those adults who didn’t eat breakfast as children are in their twenties, they are already on the way to developing heart disease.

The theory goes that if you don’t eat breakfast, you are more likely to want to stock up on sugary snacks to get through the day. Plus, you’re even less likely to eat at typical mealtimes, as discovered by researchers at the University of Tasmania.

Snacking is not only bad for your health, but all those sugary snacks may mean you are missing out on the crucial intake of fibre, vitamins and minerals that a good morning brekkie can give you. Not eating first thing in the morning will leave you feeling tired, lacklustre and therefore less likely to want to exercise.

So if you’re rushing out of the house every morning without a bite to eat, it’s time to change your ways. Check out Wahanda’s nutritional advice for some healthy tips on what you really should be eating – and try to start your day the right way…

Like an advert out of Ikea, the perfect breakfast.