Dietician shares 5 breakfast mistakes that make you tired and hungry by afternoon: ‘Starting the day with too much…’

Reconsider your breakfast if you experience energy slump by afternoon which affects your productivity at work. Know how to rectify the mistakes.

Energy slumps in the afternoon may have to do less with boring work at the office and more with what you ate for breakfast. This typically shows up in the form of low stamina, foggy brain, and tiredness. Your early affirmation of ‘I got this’ quickly turns into ‘I need a nap.’ It affects not only your mood but also productivity and motivation. To tackle this slump, reaching out for caffeinated drinks like coffee or tea becomes an instinct, but that, too, comes with unintended health consequences. Sometimes even before lunch, you begin to feel hungry.

If you are tired and craving food before lunch, you may want to re-evaluate your breakfast plan. (Picture credit: Freepik)

So first, let's address the root cause: what you eat for breakfast and if you are making any mistakes. To understand the common breakfast mistakes that contribute to this dreaded energy slump, HT Lifestyle reached out to Payal Dutt, senior dietician at Kailash Hospital, Dehradun.

She highlighted that indeed, breakfast sets the tone of how you feel throughout the day, particularly influencing the energy around noon time.

“Many people feel drained and unusually hungry by early afternoon, and the root cause often lies in a few common breakfast mistakes,” the dietician revealed that breakfast choices set you up for this dip. When you experience an energy slump, you also crave food earlier than expected, before lunchtime.

Breakfast is key to providing essential energy that keeps you steady throughout the day. Payal remarked, “The first meal of the day should stabilise energy levels, but when it lacks the right nutrients, the body ends up feeling tired much sooner.” This means without a proper, balanced breakfast, you are prone to early exhaustion, poor concentration, and increased hunger levels.

Dietician Payal unpacked 5 breakfast mistakes that you may make:

1. Starting the day with too much sugar:

Avoid sugary cereals. (Picture credit: Freepik)

First mistake, which Payal mentioned, was beginning the day with a breakfast high in sugar content. She named the health offenders, “Sugary cereals, pastries, and sweet drinks cause a rapid spike in blood sugar followed by a sharp crash.”

Breakfast's influence on the blood sugar levels is responsible for how energetic you feel. This is especially relevant because breakfast comes after an overnight fast when blood sugar is naturally low. But high sugary foods rapidly spike the blood sugar levels, followed by a crash later on. The dietician remarked, "This drop leads to fatigue, poor concentration, and increased hunger by noon.

2. Skipping protein and fibre

Breakfast needs to be nutritious to sustain energy. Payal revealed that if your breakfast lacks protein or fibre, then you are likely to feel exhausted by noon. Usually, Indian breakfasts are carb heavy, like plain poha, toast, roti sabzi, a sandwich, and more.

Describing the benefits of a protein and fibre-rich breakfast, the dietician explained, “Protein helps regulate blood glucose, while dietary fibre supports digestion and keeps you full for longer." She urged to avoid breakfasts made of simple carbs

3. Eating too little in the morning

Those who want to lose weight may choose to eat little for breakfast, but Payal warned that undereating may intensify cravings later. So in a way, it's actually going to undo your weight control efforts. She noted, “Undereating can slow metabolism and trigger intense cravings later in the day, making you more likely to overeat.”

4. Relying only on coffee or juice

If you are considering coffee or juice as a breakfast because it is convenient for your hectic morning, you may want to reconsider because it is responsible for the mid-morning crash.

The dietician revealed why these drinks are bad for you in the morning, “Coffee may give a quick caffeine boost but offers no real nutrition. Fruit juice is high in sugar and low in fibre, causing another mid-morning crash that leaves you hungry again.”

5. Skipping breakfast or choosing greasy, fried foods

Any kind of extremes affects your energy level, and this will occur if you skip breakfast or choose something heavy/ fried, like aloo puri.

The dietician shared the consequences of both extremes: “Not eating in the morning can disrupt metabolism and lead to overeating later. On the other hand, oily, deep-fried foods make the stomach feel heavy and reduce overall energy levels.”

Payal recommended eating a breakfast which is balanced, including essential nutrients and foods like protein, fibre, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates, such as eggs, yoghurt, nuts, whole grains, and fruits.

So in the end, a simple breakfast plan can help to keep the energy slump away. You stay more focused and productive at work, and don't feel hungry before lunch. Make sure you follow the aforementioned hacks to address the common breakfast mistakes.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.