It has been a famous saying “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper.”
Still many of us are unaware of how that king size breakfast looks like; before looking at the quality and quantity of that first let us learn what breakfast means and importance of breakfast?
What is Breakfast?[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][hr]
- Breakfast means ‘breaking the fast.’ You take your last meal at around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m the previous night and approximately same time in the next morning, this means that your body was deprived of food for an extended period as in the case when your body is fasting.
- This means that your brain eats almost nothing during these long hours. Your brain is dependent mainly on glucose for energy. Thus, breaking the fast from the night provides the brain with nourishment to get going.
- Breakfast thus provides the body with calories and tells the body to “wake up” and get going.
Now, as breakfast being so important meal of the day, eating nothing is the worst thing to have in breakfast. Eating breakfast gives a whole new meaning to the morning.
However, many of us do skip our breakfast due to one reason or another. Some have to start their day early as students, teachers, office goers; some think that it tends to make you lazy during the day. One of the primary reasons to skip breakfast is to manage the calorie intake to reduce weight.
However, reality is different from what we think about it. The truth is making a smart choice in breakfast helps to prepare for the morning activities. The nutrition from the breakfast is associated with a healthy body.
As discussed breakfast helps in breaking the fast of body, it also has other shown importance.
- Choosing some foods in the breakfast has shown to modify some of the risk factors of cardiovascular disease.
- Sometimes we think that skipping breakfast will help us to maintain shape and reduce weight, but the reality is skipping breakfast increases the craving towards the high calorie and sugary foods which do the reversed effect.
Do you still think that breakfast makes you feel dull and lethargic?
If yes, then ask yourself a question. What kind of breakfast makes you feel so?
If you still didn’t get any answer then lets clear out some of the myths.
Myths and Facts about Breakfast[hr]
Myth 1: Skipping breakfast makes you slim.
Truth: Normal weight children who do not take breakfast gained weight relative to peers who are regular with their breakfast. Children who do not take breakfast tend to eat more junk foods during the day that are high in fat content and low in nutritional value increasing the risk of childhood obesity.
Cakes, pastries, chips, wafers, junk foods like pizzas, burgers and rolls are high in fat and sugar. They do not fulfil the requirement of other vital vitamins and minerals which are required by the body and moreover makes you feel heavy and tends to increase the calorie intake.
Additionally these foods have low satiety value and speed up the time for the next meal.
Myth 2: Eating breakfast makes you tired during the day.
Truth: Breakfast helps the body to kick off to start the day right. If you choose a right breakfast, you will not feel dull and lethargic.
Myth 3: Its absolutely fine to skip breakfast as it is not an important meal of the day after a heavy dinner.
Truth: Breakfast is important to nourish the starving brain of night
Myth 4: A glass of milk or tea can complete the breakfast.
Truth: It is good to include the milk group in the breakfast, but an ideal breakfast should comprise of at least three different food groups. The breakfast need not be very elaborate and complicated with different food items nor to be just of tea or milk, but it can be simple yet nutritive to provide with various nutrients in a single menu.
What can be included for a Healthy Breakfast?[hr]
An ideal breakfast should include 20 percent of daily calorie requirements. Choosing smarter options like brown bread for a sandwich instead of white bread, curd based vegetable dip in place of mayonnaise are some of the ways to move towards a smarter breakfast choice. Here are some of the options for a healthier breakfast.
- Brown Bread Vegetable Sandwich + Milk
- Namkeen vegetable vermicelli + Milk Shake
- Corn flakes + Milk
- Brown Bread Chicken Sandwich + Banana Milk Shake
- Wheat flakes + Milk
- French Toast + 100% fruit juice
- Vegetable Upma + Apple
- Dalia + Milk
- Idli + Milk Shake
- Porridge
- Vegetable Cheela + Milk
- Stuffed vegetable chapatti + Apple/ Guava/ Banana
- Vegetable Poha + Milk
- Chapatti and Egg
- Brown bread sprout sandwich + Guava Shake
- Vegetable Sabudana Khichdi + Milk
- Brown bread upma + 100% fruit juice
- Vegetable dalia + Banana
Please do read the next blog for some of the exciting recipes for breakfast.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]