REASON 1:
Breakfast gets your metabolism going. Your metabolism is essentially the rate at which your body burns calories. Your metabolism is a complex set of hormones that will determine how fast you turn food into fuel and the efficiency at which you burn that fuel. Your age, weight, and sex are three big genetic factors for how fast your metabolism will be effected. Besides your genetics you can increase your metabolism by exercising, having more muscle mass (1 pound of muscle will burn 35 calories a day while 1 pound of fat will only burn 2 calories per day), and by eating more frequently. When you are sleeping your body slows down almost every chemical, hormonal, and physical process of your body which means that your metabolism will slow down because you are not needing to convert food into that fuel for energy.
Breakfast is truly a break from your fast. Think about it, you ate last at 7pm the night before and are just now getting food at 7am this morning for breakfast. Try to imagine going from 7am to 7pm without food! Since, you have not eaten in twelve hours and you have been sleeping your metabolism is extremely slow. In order to jump-start that metabolism you need to eat something to get your metabolism back into high gear. Studies have shown that by eating more frequent meals (not more total calories) will help keep your metabolism high and help keep your body burning calories more efficiently (aka gain less weight after eating). Getting breakfast in the morning (even if it isn't a lot) is very important to help your body wake up and start to burn calories!
REASON 2:
After a meal your body's metabolism is kicking into high gear and your body is going to start using that food for fuel. What you don't want to happen is to eat breakfast and then immediately feel hungry again. One reason that this could happen is because of the food choices we make. If we choose foods that are low in fiber, low in protein, high in sugar, and low nutritionally we will eat and then once again feel hungry. If we eat a bowl of sugary cereal with a Diet Coke for breakfast, we will not feel full and will want to eat again very soon. This is because when we eat simple sugars our bodies blood sugar will spike and then we will burn those calories very quickly and feel the crash feeling afterward. This is shown by the graph below.
A study done by Janet Warren et al. for the Journal of Pediatrics tested whether eating foods for breakfast that were lower on the Glycemic Index scale versus those higher on the scale would reduce the amount of food consumed at lunch. The study had four groups of preadolescent children where one group ate low GI foods, one group ate low GI foods with 10% added sucrose, a group that ate high GI foods, and a control group. These kids ate these specialized breakfast's and then ate whatever they want for lunch but while being monitored. The low GI and low GI plus 10% sucrose ate around 200 calories less than the other two groups at lunch time. This shows that by eating foods that take longer to digest (which are usually more healthy) will help reduce the feeling to eat more, later. Now eating based off of the glycemic index is not always the healthiest or best way to go but remembering to eat foods that are high in fiber, high in vitamins and minerals, has some protein, and high in complex carbohydrates will help you reduce the desire to eat more throughout the day. (Article)
REASON 3:
Eating breakfast in the morning will give your muscles, heart, and brain the energy to keep going throughout the day. Breakfastfirst is an organization in California that works to provide children with a healthy breakfast every single day at school. This organization is striving to make breakfast available to everyone. Research has shown by an analysis of 1,400 schools in California found that eating breakfast was associated with higher school-wide test scores. The students that ate breakfast also experienced, "improved cognitive performance, visual perception, and short-term memory compared to students who did not eat breakfast". (http://www.breakfastfirst.org/benefits/brainpower.shtml)
Eating breakfast has been shown to increase test scores and mental capacity. When going without breakfast you are putting your brain power and mental abilities in Jeopardy. Now of course, this doesn't mean you will turn into Andy (see video) by not eating, but by getting those calories in the morning your brain will have more energy to draw from. When you are doing something very mentally taxing, your brain will actually be working hard and will get fatigued, which is why your head might hurt from thinking too hard. So essentially, by providing your brain with fuel it can work harder and longer. This is exact same principle as working out (you must take in energy to counteract the energy you are spending working out). Eating breakfast will help keep your mind sharp and brain energy high.
REASON 4:
Enough said.
REASON 5:
The last reason that eating breakfast is important is similar to reason number 2 and 3. When you eat a lot of calories for breakfast instead of a huge dinner, it gives your body time to burn off these calories. If you decide to not eat breakfast and then only eat a sandwich and some chips for lunch you will be starving for dinner. Then you eat EVERYTHING for dinner, watch some TV, and go to sleep. Do you remember what I said above? When you go to sleep all of your body processes, especially your metabolism slows down. So when you go to bed with a very full stomach your metabolism has less ability to work through those calories and try to convert them to energy. So since you are asleep you store these extra calories from your large dinner because your body cannot burn them for energy since you don't need the energy while sleeping. These calories will then probably be stored as fat. One saying that I like to tell people is to "Eat like a king for breakfast, queen for lunch, and prince for dinner". This helps get a larger number of calories earlier in the day which gives your body time to burn them off, especially if you exercise during that day.
SUMMARY
So the last thing I will give you guys is what I usually eat for breakfast. I LOVE breakfast food and could eat it for basically every meal of the day. But what I shoot for, is the MY PLATE guidelines on ChooseMyPlate.gov. I usually eat 2 scrambled eggs with spinach (and sometimes turkey) mixed in, a piece of wheat toast with crunchy peanut butter, yogurt (or blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries), coffee, and water. If I don't have as much time I usually will put some fruit (like those ^) in a healthy cereal like SmartStart, or Great Grains (the cinnamon hazelnut kind is awesome!). These breakfasts will give me lean protein, whole grains, fruit, a little vegetables, healthy fats, and a good amount of fiber. There are always healthier things I could go for, but if you enjoy breakfast don't be afraid to eat it!
So overall, there are quite a few benefits to eating breakfast. My final advice would be to make sure you are eating something every morning before work, school, or starting your day. I think that even if you don't sit down and eat as much as I do that is totally okay, but I would say that you need to eat something even if it is as small as a granola bar or a piece of fruit. By getting a healthy and nutritious breakfast in you each morning, you will have more energy sooner and will not be quite as hungry throughout the day which can help reduce the snacking or craving unhealthy foods. Eating more in the morning also helps you jump-start that metabolism to help you burn more calories throughout the day then not having anything to eat. Go out there and enjoy your breakfast!
RECIPE OF THE DAY:
Healthy Banana Bread- found on chocolatecoveredkatie.com
I personally have made it multiple times and it is super delicious! I recommend going higher on the banana amount (you will need 3-4 to begin with) and I liked the strawberry version better than the blueberry because it was more moist. Also I added more cinnamon because I love cinnamon. So get baking and this is great for a quick breakfast!
Below is recipe found online: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/10/10/fat-free-banana-bread/
(Makes 10-12 slices)
- 2 c spelt flour (or white, or Arrowhead Mills, whole wheat, etc)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 c milk of choice (or oil)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup agave or maple syrup (Or, here's a Sugar Free Version)
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 stevia packet (or 1 tbsp more agave or other sweetener)
- 1 and 2/3 c tightly packed, mashed banana (measured after mashing)
- 1/3 cup berries of choice, or more banana (I actually used 1 full cup of sliced strawberries. The resulting bread was extremely gooey, but I loved it that way!)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix into dry. (Mix by hand and don't overmix.) Pour into a greased loaf pan and cook for 35-50 minutes, depending on how gooey you want it. (Tip: If the top is cooked but the inside is still gooey, put tin foil over the top and continue to cook.)
After removing from the oven, let cool for ten minutes before slicing. After the first day, this bread is best stored in the fridge. or cut into slices and freeze for later.
YUMMMMMMMM
NEXT WEEK: HOW TO GET OVER THE PLATEAU
No comments:
Post a Comment