Are you one of those who skip breakfast in the morning? You don’t feel hungry? Or you want to lose weight? Continue reading please…
Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast - that's where its name originates, breaking the fast! Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car with no petrol! But if you can’t eat first thing in the morning, try to make yourself eat something within two hours after waking up.
Breakfast provides many benefits to our health and wellbeing, but of course, that depends what you are eating for breakfast. Please open the kitchen cupboard and read the ingredient lists…. Can you find anything without sugar? No? Thought so….
I am a big fan of homemade! It’s not difficult and as a working mum, my schedule is quite busy as well, so it needs to be planned. You will be surprised when you realize it doesn’t take that much time actually! Your benefit will be a more stable blood sugar, no cravings late morning, a healthier body because you are in total control of what you are eating!
Nutritionists advise:
-breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking
-a healthy breakfast should provide calories in the range of 20-35% of your guideline daily allowance (GDA).
Apart from providing us with energy, breakfast foods are good sources of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins as well as protein and fibre. The body needs these essential nutrients and research shows that if these are missed at breakfast, they are less likely to be compensated for later in the day. Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals so try to include a portion of your daily eight at breakfast, whether that is an apple or glass of freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juice.
Breakfast can be good for waistline too, research shows those who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight and more likely to be within their ideal weight range compared with breakfast skippers. If you skip breakfast, you're more likely to reach for high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning.
Breakfast also restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate that is needed for the brain to function. Many studies have shown how eating breakfast can improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels. In studies amongst children, breakfast can improve attainment, behavior and has been linked to improved grades. Just like any other organ in the body, the brain needs energy to work at it's best!
EATING BREAKFAST HAS LONG TERM HEALTH BENEFITS. IT CAN REDUCE OBESITY, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES.
Breakfast is an excellent occasion to eat together as a family, before everybody rushes off to work and school. Establishing good breakfast habits in childhood and maintaining them throughout adolescence may be an important factor in reducing the prevalence of breakfast skipping and developing good eating habits that last a lifetime.
Start your day well and enjoy one of my favorite breakfasts, a gluten free hard bread, filled with great nutrients to fill you with long lasting energy for the day.
You can find the recipe on the website under nutrition and lifestyle recipes. Enjoy with some goat cream cheese, a boiled egg and sliced apple. Makes me looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning!
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