Jul

Why Eat Breakfast?

Lisa on July 21st, 2008

Well, for me that’s easy. I love to eat…I wouldn’t dream of missing a meal because of the simple pleasure I get from eating! Having said that, the other reasons just fall in line…I know what happens to my body if I go without food for more than 3 hours. It’s not good (and a whole other blog or two!). So many folks skip breakfast because it’s an easier meal to skip and a cup o’ Joe can often make you “feel” like you’re doing fine without your morning meal. Not so fast, Joe. Think again.

Breakfast eaters are usually slimmer than their non-eating breakfast compadres. They tend to eat fewer calories in a day–believe it or not. Eating breakfast keeps your healthy and helps boost your immune system. It also is good for your brain power. You’ve seen the studies, right? Memory and brain function get a boost from breakfast. It’s not just something good to do for school age children. The same holds true for adults. Numerous tests have been performed in this area.

According to Men’s Health (one of my favorite sources!), “ A typical breakfast is just a couple of hundred calories, mostly in the form of simple carbohydrates that spike blood-sugar levels and leave the body starving for energy a couple of hours later.

Even a classic fiber-rich breakfast- say a cup of raisin bran with blueberries and skim milk — provides less than 300 calories and only about 10 grams of protein. An ideal breakfast needs to be much larger — between 500 and 600 calories. And it needs to be packed with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, including at least 20 grams of protein and at least 5 grams of fiber. That will give your body a high-quality, long-lasting, steady supply of energy to help you through the morning.” And of course, this is directed to the gents, so ladies, our caloric needs are a tad less.

Here are 2 breakfast ideas the editors at Men’s Health (www.menshealth.com) shared:

Prep time: 4 minutes

2 slices whole-wheat bread

1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch! cereal

1 c fat-free milk

1 c frozen blueberries

1 1-oz slice Cheddar cheese

Pop the bread into the toaster. Dump the cereal, milk, and berries into a blender and liquefy. Stick a slice of Cheddar between the warm slices of toast and nuke the sandwich in a microwave for 15 seconds. It tastes grilled — but isn’t.

Benefits: “The cheese and milk in this meal are essential for building and maintaining new muscle,” says Christine Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of nutrition at Georgia State University. “The whole grains in the bread and cereal will help lower cholesterol, and the minerals in the milk and cheese will help keep blood-pressure levels down.”

Per meal: 509 calories, 26 grams (g) protein, 75 g carbohydrates, 14 g total fat, 12 g fiber

Grab-and-Go Breakfast

Prep time: 1 minute

1 medium apple

1/2 pint fat-free milk

1 bran Vita muffin

1 pack Skippy Squeeze Stix peanut butter

Slice the apple, grab the milk, muffin, and peanut butter, and go. Squeeze the peanut butter out of its pack onto your apple slices as you eat.

Benefits: Vita muffins (vitalicious.com) contain 100 percent of your recommended intake of several important nutrients, including vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, and E. Foods high in monounsaturated fats — like peanut butter — may boost testosterone levels. This meal should help you burn energy more efficiently and lift more weight at the gym.