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Breakfast
of Champions
by
Gay
Riley, MS, RD, CCN
NetNutritionist.com
 At
a recent breakfast meeting for women in business,
someone asked, "What meal of the day is the
most important?" Without hesitation, I answered
breakfast! Of course, throughout the day, the
composition of the meals you eat is key to your
energy level and vitality but breakfast is the
most important meal.
A
show of hands revealed that every woman there
regularly attended power breakfast meetings. When
asked if they had every heard of the "powerless
breakfast," the women were puzzled. The powerless
breakfast menu includes pastry platters, coffee
or carbonated beverages.
ENERGIZED
The
powerless breakfast is not the road to increased
energy. In fact, the opposite happens. An hour
after a powerless breakfast, an uncontrollable
urge to put your head down and doze compels you
to seek out more sugar and caffeine to survive
the afternoon. Even if you have a balanced meal
for lunch, you never recover your alertness and
energy.
MISSING
THE POWER POINTS
Imagine
combining the powerless breakfast with stress.
The powerless breakfast leaves your system unable
to cope with stress, creating a physically unhealthy
environment. Erratic fluctuations in blood sugar
along with hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine,
and adrenaline) released by the body during stress,
make it impossible for the brain to process information
correctly and cope with stressful situations.
For example, combine a pastry and coffee with
time constraints, over-commitment, traffic, appointments,
meetings, office politics, deadlines, children,
parents and household concerns and you lack essential
fuel and nutrients you’ll need to react rather
than respond to stress.
WANTS
AND NEEDS
Breakfast
is the meal that prepares the body and the brain
to take on the rest of the day. The human body
and brain work according to a natural daily cycle,
which regulates brain chemicals, hormones, blood
glucose levels, body temperature and metabolic
rate.
Debra
Waterhouse, a noted nutritionist, describes the
body as a 10,000-piece orchestra and the brain
as the conductor. What and when you eat will either
make the body harmonize or go off-key. When you
eat in accordance with your daily biological needs,
you are in harmony with your body’s biorhythms.
If you eat foods that respond to your body’s optimal
daily rhythms, you will function at a level of
maximum efficiency during the day and sleep deeply
at night.
FUELING
UP
During
the day, your body and brain need fuel from various
whole food groups. By the end of a balanced food
day, those needs start to slow down and prepare
you for sleep.
The
powerless breakfast reduces your ability to stay
in sync with the natural biorhythms of the body.
Let’s examine the natural way daylight affects
foods we eat. At sunrise your internal alarm clock
sets off the release of hormones, brain chemical,
and biochemical stimulants.
A
brain chemical called neuropeptide Y, along with
the hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, leads
to cravings for high carbohydrate foods that will
replenish the glucose or energy stores used from
the liver and muscles during the sleeping hours.
High-quality complex carbohydrate foods prepare
the body and the brain for the energy needs of
the day, putting them to maximal use by about
twelve noon. Sugary, highly processed carbohydrates,
such as pastries and sugary cereals, will negatively
affect blood sugar and energy level. Eating these
foods will eventually make you want to crawl back
under the covers and sleep all day. Moderate amounts
of protein and fat, such as a spread of naturally
ground peanut butter on a whole grain bagel with
some light yogurt, can raise the level of a brain
chemical call dopamine, increasing alertness and
concentration.
YOUR
CHEATIN’ HEART
If
you cheat, the best time to do it is between 10
a.m. and 4 p.m. The earlier in the day the better
because you have the chance to burn up the excess
calories. For this reason, breakfast is ideal
as a celebratory meal. If you don’t have a tedious
schedule planned, splurge a little. You still
have the rest of the waking hours to blow off
some steam.
However,
if you have important tasks to accomplish following
a breakfast bash, be aware of the types of carbohydrates
you eat. If you consume doughnuts, syrupy pancakes,
waffles, pastries or other high sugar foods, concentration
for performing those tasks will be more difficult.
Skipping
breakfast also qualifies you as a powerless breakfast
eater. Try waiting until you are up an hour or
so and then eat something like a piece of cheese
toast, an apple or some rolled oats with a few
nuts on top or light yogurt with a banana. Eating
your first meal later than a traditional breakfast
will help you maintain your energy levels.
JUST
NOT HUNGRY?
People
who claim they are not hungry at breakfast have
usually eaten a meal or a large snack late in
the evening. This leaves food in the stomach the
next morning and prevents them from being hungry
when they first wake up. Others have trained themselves
to skip breakfast thinking they will eat less
during the day. Breakfast skippers usually eat
more at one or two meals than other people eat
in three to four. As a result, people who skip
breakfast tend to be overweight when compared
to regular breakfast eaters.
QUALITY
COUNTS
Breakfast
champions start their day with quality fuel to
ensure the sacred balance of brain and body. The
true power breakfast consists of high complex
carbohydrates that last throughout the morning.
These include such items as oatmeal, fruit and
yogurt, a breakfast burrito with low fat cheese,
egg whites, hot sauce and fruit, or a hearty whole
grain bagel with low fat cream cheese, fresh fruit
and milk.
A
healthy eating routine is characterized by being
hungry first thing in the morning, eating a balanced
lunch before blood sugar has a chance to fall
and enjoying a light dinner. Are you ready to
mend your morning meal?
NETNUTRITIONIST
RECIPES FOR BREAKFAST
Be
sure to check out these quick and nutritious breakfast
recipes:
Oatmeal
Banana Mug
Breakfast
Burrito
French
Toast
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