Breakfast
has always been touted as the most important meal of a day. Not eating
breakfast may incur many unpleasant problems, including feeling lethargic,
being unable to concentrate, and even putting on weight due to overeating at
lunch.
Why is it
then that some people may feel that their lives haven’t changed for the better
even with regular breakfast? Some find themselves asking, “Why do I still feel
hungry?” “Why do I still feel tired?”
Breakfast isn’t
a magical time when anything you consume becomes a healthy meal or an
appropriate one. It is just like any
other meal, only more important because it takes place at the start of your
day, after the longest break between meals – more than 10 hours if you finish
dinner around 8 pm! As such, breakfast is often referred to as fuel for the day.
If the fuel is of inferior quality, your car is not going to be able to travel
smoothly or for long distances without refuelling Similarly, if you’re not
getting sufficient nutrition, your breakfast will not be very good fuel for the
rest of the day.
Like all
other meals of the day, food for your breakfast should be selected based on the
food pyramid. You might think that that’s too much work for a morning meal, but
a wholemeal bread with egg and lettuce sandwich, a banana and a glass of milk
easily gives a decent breakfast without taking up too much time! The trick is
to prepare food that can be kept overnight, so that you can make part of or all
your breakfast the night before and not have to wake up especially early to
prepare it.
Protein and
fibre are good choices of nutrients for breakfast as they are filling and
digest slowly, giving your energy that lasts longer.
Avoid
refined grains and go for whole grains. Refined grains, usually found in white
bread, some cereal, and bakery products, while tastier, often have most of
their nutrients removed, and are very quickly digested by the body. Go for
wholemeal bread and whole wheat cereal instead.
Refrain
from food and drinks with high sugar content. Sugar gives you a short burst of
energy, but consequently, this causes your energy levels to dip, leaving you
fatigued for the rest of the morning. In addition, they cause you to put on
weight. Refrain from oily foods like char kway teow and fried bee hoon as well
for health reasons. For drinks, choose low-fat milk or pure fruit juice instead
to supplement calcium and fibre.
Your breakfast should make you full and satisfied like any
other meal. Grab-and-go breakfasts like granola bar, a piece of fruit or a sandwich
are really insufficient, and you’d find yourself hungry again later. If you’re
in a rush, make sure to pack along some food that you can eat at your
workplace. If possible, have a proper full meal at home to get the most out of
your breakfast.
Don’t eat too late in the day. Brunches in the late
morning are trending now. While they are all right for lazy weekends, blurring
the lines between breakfast and lunch on weekdays defeats the purpose of
breakfast as fuel.
Tired of
boring old sandwich and cereal? Eating healthily doesn’t mean eating blandly. Mayoclinic has some ideas for unconventional but healthy breakfasts not unlike those you may find in cafes:
Vegetarian pizza – Supermarkets have microwave ones
Fresh fruit topped with low-fat yogurt and crispy whole – grain cereal
Vegetarian pizza – Supermarkets have microwave ones
Fresh fruit topped with low-fat yogurt and crispy whole – grain cereal
Vegetables, salsa and low-fat shredded cheese wrapped in a
tortilla
Whole-wheat crackers with low-fat cheese. Kraft has liquid
cheese in some supermarket outlets, and it’s quite a delectable alternative for
fans of the popular Nachos cheese dip. Just don’t douse your crackers in it or
it could become fattening.
Microwaved baked potato topped with broccoli and grated Parmesan
cheese
Make your breakfast a fun and delicious affair, and you’ll
soon be looking forward to making your own healthy meals for the morning!
