As my mother used to say when we were
in a small city in 1990s “Your breakfast is very important for a good day”. The
roti sabji or idli or poha that we used to feast when we were adolescents is almost
an outdated start by current standards.standards. However-the garlic bread, bread butter,
biscuits, puff-sand coffee that is a current standard breakfast in today’s running
world is no better either. What is the significance of breakfast and how can
you design your breakfast recipes that are healthful, convenient, and tasty?
Morning
metabolism
Our body needs energy 24 x 7 and our metabolism
keeps a nearly stable stock of energy whether we are eating or not. Since our
brain can not store any energy, it has to depend up on constant supply of sugar (glucose)
flowing in your blood. The food we eat is digested in our intestines; proteins carbohydrates
and fats are broken down into minor fragments and are absorbed into the blood stream.
The uptake of glucose raises the blood sugar level, and insulinis secreted
inpancreas. It is the insulin that powers our body’s metabolism by allowing the
glucose to enter cells. The excess glucose which is not burned is converted
into glycogen and is stored in liver and muscles to meet future energy
demands.However our body can stock only a small portionofglycogen; Balance
of excess glucose is converted into fats and is soaked into body’s fat deposits.
Our body does not store excess protein and carbs, it alters it into fat.
When we are not eating food, ourmetabolism
performs reverse function. Your liver not only alters glycogen into glucose but
alsosecretes additional glucose to maintainourblood glucose levels nearly stable.
Still if you need more energy, fatty acids are released from your body that can
be burned to produce energy instead of carbohydrates. Since protein we eat is
utilised to perform growth and repair functions of our body they are not
utilised for a shorttime of energy scarcity. However in a real famine, the body
even burns protein to produceenergy that is cannot get any other way.
A gapof 10 or 12 hours between yesterday’sdinner
and today’sbreakfast is barely a famine, but it isenough to put bodymetabolism
into an energyorganizing mode. Our first food of the days hence is important as
it helps the energy flow back into storage, hence it isessential to do
it right.
Configurations,
not perfection
There is nothing called “perfect food”
or “a perfect meal”. There is surely however a dietary configurationthat is paramount
for health. A study carried out in Harvard with more than 50000 participants to
establish the health benefits of “Good Configuration”described by a high intake
of whole grains, legumes,fruits and vegetables, , fish, and poultry, over a
“Western configuration,” which includedrefined grains, sweets, highfat dairy
products, ,processed meat, red meat, and fries. The results were mere
formalities: Those men who followed Good Configuration diet had a much reducedrisk
of diabetes and heart disease over the men who took a typical 21st-century Western diet.
Ourdiet should be practical but not disciplinary
or even boring. Includea wide variety of foods and try with new ones. 20-25% of
our daily required energy only shall come from fats. So keep fat consumption modest
by decreasing your intake of saturated fat from dairy products, meat, fried
foods, and snacks.However addnuts, fish which are rich omega3 fats and olive
oil which contains monounsaturated fats. Avoid simple sugar and simple carbs as
they are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream and raises blood sugar. On the
other hand add enough complex carbs that takes time to get absorbed. The total
intake of carbohydrates shall be 50%–65% of body’sdaily energy needs. Include foods
that giveat least 28 to 30grams dietary fiber in a day. The daily intake of
protein shall be restricted to 15% of your total energy needs.
How can breakfast fit into this healthyconfiguration?
Breakfast is the greatest time to get complex carbsand dietary fiber. Actually,
if you start at breakfast, you willfind it hard or even impossible, to your
daily dose of fiber you need even though vegetables and, beansare
excellent breakfast foods.
Not suggested
To include eggs in the breakfast is a
little debatable as it also contains cholesterol. However foods such as doughnuts,
fried potatoes havetoo much fat. Processed meats, processed butter alsohas too
much fat and salt. And the cutlets, batata vada, mirchi bhaji, samosa, andMcBreakfasts
at your nearby fastfood stall has too much of everything other than dietary fiber.
Breakfast connection
withbelly fat
Many people are so obsessed with weight loss that they even think that avoiding meals is their answer for how to loseweight naturally. It isnot true, particularly if you are skipping your first
meal, i.e. breakfast. Following are some findings from some studies across the
globe
ü A study of more than 16,000 American
adults concludedthat breakfast eaters were slimmer than those who used to skip breakfast
and people who designed their breakfast recipes aroundwhole grain cereals were thinner
than adultswho tookmeat or eggs.
ü A study on more than2,800 young adults found
that that people who takebreakfast regularly were only has 50% probability of
getting be obese than breakfast skippers.
ü A smaller study in Massachusetts concludedthat
avoiding breakfast isassociated with a fourfold rise in obesityrisk.
ü Takingbreakfast at home wasobviously
more advantageous than eating out.
Beginright
Breakfast is “the most essential meal
of the day. A good breakfast perhapswill notboost your cerebralactivities, but will
certainly help you lose weight naturally if you add highfiber, whole grain
cereal breakfast recipes. This will further reduce your risk of diabetes and heart
disease.
Above all, maybe, a good breakfast is a
perfect way to go for healthful diet.Trydifferent breakfast food until you find
a nutritiousbreakfast which is tasty also. And if you beginright and stay
healthy, you can much those fatty foods from time to time. Howeverlike other,
you’ll progressively lose your desire for samosa or burger.
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