Breakfast

What You Eat

Sets Tone for the Day

Breakfast Sets The Tone

Breakfast - What you eat sets tone for the day.

It seems that carbohydrates in whole grains and fruit aid our memory and concentration.

The abounding messages encouraging us to eat our morning meal,usually focus on benefits related to weight control, concentration and work performance, or overall health.

However, it�s important to distinguish, between the benefits of eating breaky and the benefits related to "what" we eat for our a.m. meal.

Eating first thing in the morning shows up consistently among the habits of people who have lost weight and maintained their loss.

In a study of members of the National Weight Control Registry � a group who have all lost at least 30 pounds and maintained the loss at least a year � 78 percent say they eat a morning meal daily and almost 90 percent say they do �most� days.

Only 4 percent say they never eat a morning meal, substantially less than the national average of 25 percent of adults who say they skip this meal all together.

Although it might seem that skipping breakfast would make weight control easier, studies suggest that doing so, may help reduce calorie intake later in the day.

People who skip or eat an inadequate morning meal may find mid-morning a time they are likely to eat high calorie foods.

They may also get extremely hungry at lunch and overeat.

Studies of binge eating consistently link this with a pattern of eating little in the morning and large amounts near the end of the day.

Sharper minds

Most research associating breakfast with mental acuity and emotional well-being has focused on youth.

Studies have found that children and adolescents who eat a morning meal show improved memory and test grades.

The relatively few studies of adults show more mixed results.

These studies suggest an a.m. nosh brings benefits in memory, energy level and mood.

Specific food choices at your morning meal probably change its effects, however.

Reflecting the national average, most people in these studies most probably consumed ready-to-eat cereal for breakfast.

Chocolate donuts, or even a big plate of sausage and refined grain pancakes, may not necessarily bring the same benefits as found in these studies.

There's a surprise.

Several studies suggest breakfasts that slowly release carbohydrate into the blood help memory and concentration more than those that rapidly release large amounts.

Carbohydrates are released slowly by foods that contain whole grains and solid fruit rather than refined grains (whether bread, pastry or cereal) and fruit juice or soft drinks.

One reason our first meal of the day can benefit overall health is that it presents one of the main opportunities for people to take in nutrients often lacking in the American diet.

Studies often link eating your morning meal with a higher daily intake of fiber, calcium, iron, folic acid, and vitamin C.

Whole grains, fruit and protein

Your morning meal provides easy options to meet the goal of three or more servings of whole grains, for example, via whole grain cold cereal, oatmeal and whole grain toast.

Your a.m. dine is also a great time to get in at least one serving of fruit or vegetables � perhaps in an omelet or vegetable juice.

It's far easier to reach the recommended daily total of five to ten servings of vegetables and fruits when they are a part of meals and snacks throughout the day.

For a long-lasting, health-promoting morning dine, one formula is to combine a whole grain, a fruit or vegetable, and a healthful source of protein.

For the latter, choose a food that is either low in fat, such as skim milk and low-fat yogurt, or contains healthful fat, such as peanut butter and walnuts.

People who aren�t hungry in the morning often find that if they eat less at night, they begin waking up hungry.

For others, a peach mango smoothie to start the day and a healthful early morning snack may work best or help transition them to a breakfast habit.

If you don't know what to have for breakfast today ...

Try this rich tasting breakfast that can be made in just 10 minutes!