Enjoy a hearty breakfast....

Today's post: Friday, 11-21-2008

People who eat breakfast have better health than people who don’t. This effect is so strong that even people who eat less healthy foods at breakfast have better health than people who have no breakfast.

And, people who eat breakfast are much more likely to be trim or to keep off any fat they lose. This is even more true for women than for men. So women who want to be trim should virtually always eat breakfast.

That said, there are some foods that people eat for breakfast that are so bad for you, it makes good sense to not eat them or only eat healthier versions once a week or much less.

However, there are some really great tasting breakfast foods that are OK for most people a few times a week. And, there are some really super healthy breakfasts, some of which can be astonishingly quick to fix and eat.

All of this adds up to this conclusion.: If you eat a combination of really great tasting breakfast foods that are OK a few times a week and some really super healthy breakfasts you can be much healthier and less fat than people who do not do so.

I was reminded of this on Monday this week when I read that day’s health article in the Early to Rise email I get.

Here’s that article.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com .”

“Eating Breakfast Is Only Half the Story

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

For what seems like forever, nutritionists like me have been urging people not to skip breakfast - for a number of reasons. For one thing, studies have found that people who skip breakfast are far more likely to be overweight or obese than those who eat breakfast on a regular basis. Researchers have also found that there's a correlation between eating breakfast and better performance/concentration at school and work, more energy, and improved well-being.

But those of us who have been on the breakfast bandwagon seem to have left out one of the most important details: the breakfast menu. Because even if you eat breakfast, all bets are off if you choose the wrong foods.

In a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers confirmed that breakfast eaters, in general, eat fewer calories during the day. But the study also showed that people who eat a really high-calorie breakfast are more likely to eat more calories during the day. Plus, their average intake of important nutrients (like calcium) falls.

When you think about it, this makes sense. Breakfasts that are very high in calories are almost certain to include junk like pastries, donuts, and other "foods" that have nothing to do with reaping the benefits of a solid, high-protein, low-calorie breakfast that's been shown to moderate cravings. In fact, a high-calorie junk-food breakfast is far more likely to lead to overeating during the day - exactly the opposite of what you want.

So don't skip breakfast. But do skip the donuts.”

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1. Consider avoiding these:

Corn bread, biscuits, donuts, croissants, toast made with refined grain bread, jam or jelly, and bagels made with refined grain all have refined grain and tend to also contain salt or sugar usually in large doses. As commercially made and served in restaurants, they often can have transfats, though that is lessening some, and/or high fructose corn syrup.

Waffles and pancakes with syrup also have these problems. And many, if not most, commercial syrups served for them use only high fructose corn syrup.

They all are health damaging foods. They tend to spike your blood sugar, and as the ETR article suggests, they also tend to give you carbohydrate rebound hunger about mid-morning.

Just about the only breakfast cereals that are OK to eat are oatmeal (traditional, or “Old Fashioned” is much better for you than “instant.”) & hot, plain oat brain. Virtually all the others are made with refined grains and most have added sugar or worse. Plus traditional oatmeal and oat bran help lower LDL cholesterol; and people who eat them often have fewer heart attacks than other people do. And, oats are moderately high in plant protein.

Toasted wheat germ is a bit too high in carbohydrates but is high in fiber and quite high in protein and B vitamins. Notably, it’s higher in choline than many supplements. And getting enough choline helps keep your protective HDL levels high.

1. It’s desirable to have a high protein food in your breakfast most days.:

Eggs, particularly if they are from pasture fed chickens, shrimp, Canadian style bacon from cows fed only grass, plain yogurt – particularly 2% lowfat and nonfat, and nuts are all higher protein foods that can be in a high protein breakfast. Some nonfat or 1% lowfat milk can be OK though some carbohydrate sensitive people who are trying to lose fat or keep it off need to go easy on the quantity.

Once or twice a month a piece or two of uncured bacon or similar sausage is OK for many people. Similarly, cheese added to an omelet or parmesan cheese added to hot oatmeal can be good.

Crab and lobster are also good if a bit pricey. Wild caught salmon can be part of a good breakfast sometimes as well.

And, a blender drink using a protein powder from hemp, whey, or eggs can also give you a decent amount of protein. Whey and egg protein is particularly high quality and has virtually all the essential amino acids. (If as I do, you find stevia to taste like a cheap, badly made marshmallow flavoring, Jarrow makes a whey protein powder that is stevia-free.)

2. It can be a good idea to include some kind of vegetables also. Onions sautéed in extra virgin olive oil or added to an omelet or in a salsa you add to an omelet work well.

Alfalfa sprouts or broccoli sprouts plus shrimp with their tails removed go well with scrambled eggs or in an omelet.

It’s definitely an acquired taste. But the Korean fermented cabbage dish, Kimchi, is a traditional breakfast food there. Nutritionally, it’s a superfood.

Similarly, seaweed soup can work well for breakfast, particularly if you add some diced onion, or ginger, or fresh crushed garlic and some kind of protein such as shrimp.

Lastly, both Dr Al Sears and Dr Dharma Singh Khalsa sell a “green drink” that you can add to a breakfast, blender drink. These have high fiber, high nutrition, and abundant minerals in them.

3. Because your body digests carbohydrates best first thing in the morning at breakfast time, this is also an excellent time, particularly, if you have some protein or fish or nuts with it, to have a small amount of real fruit juice or a even a large serving of fresh whole fruit.

Blueberries; dark red, sour cherries; most other berries; cantaloupe; bananas; kiwi fruit, or dark purple grapes, and oranges all can be great foods for breakfast.

4. If you need a fast breakfast, you can experiment with combinations of blender drinks.

Vitamix blenders work quite well for this and come with their own recipe suggestions.

And you can put in a protein food or protein supplement powder, a green drink mix powder, and a kind of fresh fruit you like to make a fast to make and fast to eat breakfast. That will give you protein, vegetable, and fruit all in one.

Unsweetened whey powder plus yogurt plus green drink mix plus chilled blueberries or banana would work well for some morning for example. Just throw them in the blender. Blend them and drink the smoothie that results.