Blast Off With Breakfast

You probably know that breakfast may be the most important meal of the day. Forty years of breakfast-related studies have shown that jump-starting the day with breakfast helps everyone, from kids to teens to adults. A healthy breakfast gives you the nutrients you need to perform and feel your best. If you don't eat breakfast, you may stall later in the day. Or, you may be tempted to overeat. Start your day off right and blast off with some healthy breakfast choices.

Why you need to eat breakfast

Here are some important reasons to fit breakfast into your morning:

• It's time to refuel. By the time you wake up, you may have gone without food for 10 to 12 hours. Breakfast is the early morning refueling stop for your body, providing a fresh source of energy for your brain and muscles through the foods you eat. Research tells us that breakfast skippers often feel tired, crabby or restless in the morning. On the flip side, those who eat breakfast tend to have more endurance and strength, as well as better concentration and problem-solving ability. Eating breakfast is also associated with better attitudes toward work or school, higher productivity later in the morning and better ability to handle tasks that require memory. Skipping breakfast may make your mood irritable and slow down your reactions.

• You won't snack later or end up bingeing later in the day if you eat breakfast. Some people wrongly believe that skipping breakfast offers an effective plan for monitoring weight. But many people who skip breakfast tend to overeat later in the day and gain more weight than those who eat in the morning.

Healthy choices

Once you've decided to make breakfast part of your day, be sure to pick healthy foods. A healthy breakfast is low in fat, cholesterol and salt. But healthy doesn't have to mean boring. Here are some breakfast ideas that can help keep you energized -- you may even look forward to them:

• Try a whole wheat waffle topped with applesauce, or eat other complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain breads, cereals or pancakes topped with yogurt and fresh fruit.

• Try a breakfast shake made with fresh-squeezed or pure fruit juice, fruit, low-fat or nonfat dairy products such as milk and yogurt, and a teaspoon of bran. (Avoid juice drinks. These contain added sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners.)

• Try fresh or canned fruit in its own juice mixed with low-fat yogurt and sprinkled with cereal. You can also try other foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits and juices, strawberries and cantaloupe.

• Limit how often you eat "traditional" breakfast foods, such as sausage, bacon, ham, eggs and grits. When you want a "traditional" breakfast, try turkey sausage and egg substitutes. These can still be high in sodium and fat, so limit these, as well.

• Add nutrition and flavor to instant or regular cooked cereals such as oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat or rice, or couscous by using fruit juice or milk for any or all of the cooking fluid. Another idea is to fortify cooked cereal with dry milk powder for even more calcium, or blend in a little chopped fruit, grated cheese, nuts or dried fruit. You could even top the cereal with fresh fruit of any kind! 

• Eating on the run? Keep quick-to-fix foods on hand: instant breakfast mixes, breakfast cereals, bagels and english muffins, toaster waffles, fresh and canned fruit, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, juice and milk. Grab a bran muffin and yogurt topped with berries, or a bagel with fruit chutney spread, and a side of baby carrots. Don't forget the milk. Lean ham on a toasted english muffin, with juice, is another quickie breakfast. Or, warm-up those leftovers and add a fruit or vegetable juice. Another thought is to get breakfast ready the night before so you can grab it and run! 

If you're short on time, you can eat many of these healthy alternatives on the way to work or school, or when you get there. So start changing your thinking about breakfast. Make it an important part of your day. After all, making the most of the day depends on getting a healthy, energetic start.