First of all, the very name can teach us a lot. Breakfast comes from "break the fast". You have been ( or should have been) sleeping all night. Your body has been on a fast (unless you are a midnight snacker!). Your metabolism has slowed down significantly. When you get up, your body is hungry and needs some nourishment. Breakfast is the fuel that your body needs to get going and make it through the day. It awakens your brain as well! Breakfast helps to curb your hunger and keeps you from binge eating throughout the day. It has been proven that kids do better in school when they have eaten a good breakfast.
The key word in the above paragraph is "good". Let's investigate some of the common breakfast foods that we often eat. Walk down your local grocery store's cereal aisle and you are overwhelmed with colors and kinds and flavors. Have you ever noticed that the junkiest cereals are the cheapest? As a health conscious and budget conscious shopper, that fact alone drives me nuts. Why are the cereals that go through the most processing and have the most ingredients in them and are advertised the most have the lowest price? Supply and demand my dear, supply and demand. There is more demand for the colorful, sugar infested foods and so the ones that are the healthiest cost the most. Argh. And then there are the pop tarts. These have become staple in the American diet. A dry chunk of goo and cardboard, supposedly loaded with 11 essential vitamins and minerals, that you just pop into your toaster and you are ready to go!?!? Sugar has become the staple ingredient of breakfast foods. We all think sweet when we want breakfast. Yet, sugar is the worst thing you can put in a body that has been fasting.
Do you know how to read sugar content in foods? It's pretty easy. Look at the nutrition facts on a package. Near the bottom you will see "sugars" and an amount in grams. Divide that number by 5 and that will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar are in one serving of that particular item. Notice the following picture:
Eating sugar for breakfast makes you feel energetic at first and then drops your energy level quickly. Sugar is one of the foods that digests the fastest, so you feel its effects quickly and then feel empty sooner. A better choice for breakfast foods would be to choose something with more protein that takes longer to digest and stays with you longer. You will feel fuller longer, you won't get that sinking feeling at 10 a.m. and go looking for more sugar to fill you up. Did you know that white, processed flour and corn and rice also turn to sugar in your system? Isn't interesting that most popular cereals are made of these ingredients. If you must eat something sweet, balance it with an egg or bacon or some REAL whole grain bread.
Eggs are a perfect breakfast food. They are full of super protein. When I eat eggs for breakfast I don't feel hungry again until lunch time. I fact, I have read of a diet that consists of eating 30 grams of protein for breakfast (about 6 eggs!!), and starting your day full and giving you the boost of energy and fuel that you need. Many people would lose weight quickly if they followed this plan.
One of the complaints about breakfast is that you don't feel hungry at that time of the day. Yes, stress about your day can complicate the feeling of needing food. You also can stifle the hunger pangs after a certain length of fasting. Find something you do like. Change the breakfast menu and eat meat and potatoes, or soup, or a sandwich for breakfast!
One of my favorite breakfast recipes is the following pancake recipe. Yes, is has some sugar in it, but the balance comes from the whole wheat, oil and eggs. No, I don't get up at 5 a.m. to make these. I make them during the day and freeze them (Eggo had the right idea!) and then just pop them in the toaster or microwave for a happy kid's breakfast. My kids like maple syrup, apple butter, powdered sugar (slight amount! ) and even honey or just butter. They are super easy to make and a very flexible recipe to shape to your family's needs.
Whole Grain Pancakes
*Makes approx. a dozen medium sized pancakes. I cook them in coconut oil (or butter, or olive oil) on my griddle set at 300.
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or milk, cream, canned milk, water, juice, yogurt...)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. oil (hint: use the same measuring spoon for the honey and it will slide right out!)
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour ( I often add half oat flour, or ground flax for added nutrition)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. baking powder
Combine all ingredients. If you like thin pancakes, add more liquid; add more flour if you like thick pancakes. Fry in oil or butter (coconut oil seems the best!). Cool on a cooling rack if you are planning to freeze them. I freeze them in bags of a dozen (yes, I triple the recipe).
So, let me encourage you to start your day with a good foundation. Nothing for breakfast is not good, but a junky breakfast is not good either. Take the time to think about what you are ingesting and make choices that will help you get through your day feeling more energetic and better about yourself!
