Breakfast improves grades, helps maintain weight.
Breakfast bars or cookies are a great breakfast on the goal.
Photo courtesy/NEWS CANADA
It's not news but it is something that needs to be repeated - breakfast is the most important meal of the day and healthy choices in the morning can help set you up for a productive day ahead.
"Breakfast kick starts your metabolism after a night's sleep and helps keep your energy up during the morning," said Rose Reisman via News Canada.
Reisman, a health and wellness consultant and national spokesperson for Breakfast for Learning, shares her tips on why we should all invest in a healthy breakfast.
Skipping breakfast can have a serious effect:
* Blood sugar surges may result in erratic eating patterns, eating more junk or diet-type foods and being overweight.
* Morning rush on an empty stomach increases the levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream. These stress hormones themselves affect the brain and increase simple carbohydrate craving. The resulting food choices may affect behaviour and learning.
Benefits of breakfast:
* Children who eat breakfast show a general increase in math grades and reading scores, improved problem-solving skills, increased attention spans, are more alert, have more energy, show improved behaviour and fewer emotional issues.
* Eating breakfast increases daily dietary fibre intake significantly and also provides more protective vitamins and minerals.
* For adults, it helps ensure better concentration and productivity, lowers blood cholesterol levels and helps to control weight.
Here are two common roadblocks to eating breakfast and some tips to overcome them:
Breakfast Roadblock No. 1 - Not enough time
For those who seem to never have enough time in the morning for breakfast, the key is to keep quick, easy breakfast choices available. A great breakfast includes foods from three of Canada's Food Guide food groups - especially whole grain, some fruit or fruit juice and protein such as milk, yogurt, peanut butter or some nuts. These foods will give your body the energy it needs after fasting all night and keep you satisfied well into the morning. And if you're watching your weight, it's good to know that people who enjoy lots of whole grains tend to have healthier body weights than those who don't.
Breakfast Roadblock No. 2 - No appetite for breakfast
If you're not a big fan of eating soon after you wake up, you can wait a little while but don't postpone it too long. If this means you need to eat breakfast during your morning commute to work, plan a breakfast you can eat on the way such as an individual-sized yogurt, a juice box and a portable container with whole grain cereal to munch on. Running to catch the bus? Grab a breakfast bar to munch on the way. Make these on the weekend when you have a few more minutes to spare so you'll be able to grab them on weekday mornings as you head out the door.
So what is a healthy breakfast? Start by ensuring you have servings from three or more food groups.
Grain
Aim to have whole grains including hot or cold whole grain cereals, whole grain breads, bagels and pancakes
Meat and alternatives
Include lower fat protein choices such as a hard-cooked egg, peanut butter, lean slices of meat, lower fat yogurt or sliced cheese
Vegetables and fruit
Include fresh, frozen or canned (without added sugar) fruits and vegetables or 100 per cent fruit juice. Select whole fruits and vegetables as often as possible.
Some quick and easy breakfast ideas:
* Hot oatmeal cooked with milk, topped with raisins and cut-up apples
* Whole grain cereal, vanilla yogurt and frozen berries
* A smoothie made with fresh or frozen fruit, low-fat yogurt and milk, with a slice of whole grain bread
More information on the benefits of a healthy breakfast can be found online at www.breakfastforlearning.ca