They say ignorance is bliss but there are times when ignorance of people makes me sad. One such instance is when people do not think breakfast is important and chose not to include it in their routine. It is said that one should eat like a king for breakfast, queen for lunch and popper for dinner.
Let us look at the impact of having or not having breakfast to better understand why bother with breakfast
1. Weight management - many believe that skipping breakfast so they reduce calories would help them lose weight. It cannot be farther from the truth. When we sleep during the night, our body slows down, so metabolism slows down. When we have something to eat in the morning, we are effectively giving the signal to the body that the day has begun and metabolism should increase. However, people who skip breakfast deny their body of this signal so they feel sluggish as they continue until lunch with slow metabolism. When one feels sluggish and tired, one tends to work less, physically and in turn burns fewer calories. Also, when the body is deprived of food for a long while, cravings begin, especially sugar cravings. This is when we feel like snacking on a chocolate bar or a big fat muffin or cakes etc. This effectively increases the calorie consumption. In summary, a slow metabolism, tired body burning lesser calories and high calorie/fat snacks effectively contribute to weight gain and not weight loss. We all keep hearing about the numerous health problems that can come with being overweight, especially risk of heart diseases and skipping breakfast can potentially lead to being overweight.
2. Lowered cognition - studies have said to have shown that children who have breakfast fare better in problem solving than children who skip breakfast.
Remember that it is not just the rest of the body that gets energy from digested food but also the brain. When the brain is low on energy, one cannot expect it to function effectively. Some studies also show that children who skip breakfast are more likely to have problems concentrating and also have problems with memory when compared with children who have breakfast.
3. Type 2 diabetes - skipping breakfast is said to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If one is already diabetic, it is all the more important to keep sugar fluctuations low which means the body has to be fed at regular intervals. Diabetes is a state of the body that is not particularly easy to manage as the complications of diabetes can be very serious from losing eye sight, heart attacks, having to be amputated. If one is already overweight, the complications get even worse. The effect of diabetes may not be known immediately but the body will be deteriorating gradually. Keeping the blood sugar under control is absolutely important while living with diabetes and skipping meals, that too breakfast will be highly counter-productive for diabetes management.
4. Menstrual irregularities - some studies are said to have shown that girls/women who skip breakfast are likely to have irregular periods.
5. Poor mood - low glucose is said to be responsible for irritability fatigue and tiredness. Some studies show that people who skip breakfast snap at others more easily.
To me the risk of weight gain (and all associated health risks due to being overweight) and risk of diabetes alone are enough to make me run for my breakfast. When it comes to children, it is very important to set up healthy eating habit at an early stage and for that, having breakfast is important. With children getting less and less playtime and exercise these days it is all the more important for them to eat healthy. There is no point in sending them to school to learn stuff if they cannot concentrate and as parents, we need to give them adequate support to enable them to learn. Hopefully, by now you are at least thinking about having breakfast.
I come from a tamil Brahmin family and Brahmin meal plan is quite well known because most of them have a big mid morning meal, later in the afternoon a tiffin or lighter meal is consumed while dinner sometimes is liquid intake or fruits or some cereals, if not curd rice. Reason I mention that is that although some people criticise them for having a heavy meal that early, what modern day dieticians are advising is pretty much similar - have a big breakfast. The meal would normally consist of rice (carbohydrates), dal (protein), vegetables (vitamins and minerals) and ghee (fat) and unless I got it all wrong, this is what constitutes a balanced meal. At this day and age, we barely have the time to make all these before we walk out of the doors to work and neither would our working hours allow such a schedule. So, what are some quick breakfast solutions you could try.
1. Oats porridge - boil a couple of tablespoon of oats in water until it is done (regular oats is better than quick cooking and honestly does not take much time to cook anyway). If you like it sweet, add some milk, sugar or honey or any other sensible sweetener of choice. If you like savory, then add some buttermilk and little salt and consume. Either way, have a banana or any other fruit of choice.
2. Breakfast shake - milk shake or smoothies make great breakfast. Blend a banana sweetened with date syrup or any other natural sweetener (avoid synthetic sweetners or refined sugar) along with some milk. Top with crushed nuts and drink. Adding oat milk instead of cow's milk can help reduce calories and fat and also lend to fibre intake. You could try the same with apple too. You could also use a spoon of wheat germ as topping.
3. Muffin - having a low sugar, bran loaded muffin is a great way to fill you up for the morning. Top a healthy muffin with berries and eat along with a glass of juice. Plenty of healthy muffin recipes are available, try making enough over the weekend itself. I would say it probably takes about 10 minutes to make the muffin batter and about 20 minutes baking time and that would be your breakfast sorted for a week!
4. Breakfast sandwich - you could make these with leftovers too. You could use chapattis or pita breads or wholemeal breads and stuff them with left over sabjis or any vegetable of choice. Over the weekends I tend to quickly sauté grated courgette, spice it with cumin, chilly and coriander powder and make a grilled wholemeal sandwich. This helps me get one of my five a day vegetables as well. You can try the same with paneer or grated cauliflower, cabbage etc. Peanut butter sandwich is a good option as well.
5. Toast and beans - beans also contribute to one of five a day. This option is okay if you have the time to sit down and have your breakfast.
6. Low fat flapjacks - I make my own flapjack which is a bit more chewy than regular ones. I use very little brown sugar but add dry fruits and dates syrup to sweeten instead. Believe it or not small portions of these oats rich almost no added fat flapjacks are a great start to the day.
7. Multi grain porridge - back home it is common practice for moms to make a multi grain powder. It usually consists or wheat, barley, finger millet, sago, almonds and cardamom for flavouring. One can add couple of heaped spoons of this to water, bring to boil while stirring, add jaggery or sugar and milk.
8. Healthy pancakes - make your own pancake mix by adding either the above mentioned porridge powder or wholewheat powder along with some millet powder. Add mashed banana or pureed apple or blueberries, if you want it sweeter, add syrup like dates syrup to make a batter. I tend to skip the baking powder or soda bicarb as it inhibits nutrition absorption. You could add little all purpose flour to ease flipping the pancake. Pour the batter on hot tava and drizzle oil/butter/ghee. Cook both sides, eat.
9. Bread omelet - beat an egg and add salt and required vegetables like tomato, onion, mushroom etc. and make an omelet. Grab couple of toasts and a glass of juice. Having protein earlier in the day is said to be better than later.
11. Quick French toast - cut couple of bread slices into four triangles each. Dip them in beaten egg (season it as needed) and cook on hot tava. Drizzle some oil or butter while cooking. Cook both sides and that's a good breakfast on the go.
12. Millet gruel - Millet is usually considered poor man's food but truth is many people who work hard physically have ragi gruel often for breakfast. It keeps them full for long although they are involved in intense work. One way of preparing is similar to multi grain porridge mentioned previously. Another method is to mix it with some buttermilk and let it sit overnight. Next morning add little water if needed and cook while stirring, until it is shiny. Season with salt and drink. Millets are low fat protein sources.
I hope at least one or two of the above options suit your taste and timing. On weekends one can indulge a bit more by making cooked breakfast and a number of such recipes are available on my blog as well.
Make healthy choices for your life, remember, prevention is better than cure. One can skip any meal, but not breakfast regardless of whether one is hungry or not. For the other meals you can go as per your body, eat when hungry but breakfast is an exception. Do not wait for the 'right' day to start having breakfast, there is no bad time to do the right thing. Live long, live happy, live healthy!
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