Healthy breakfast meals are indispensable to good health for you and your family. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skipping breakfast will lead to various health hazards in the long run. A study has shown that children who do not take breakfast have poorer performance in school. Therefore, no matter how busy you are in the morning, try to make sure you and your family have at least a quick and simple breakfast.
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The major nutrients that we need in our diet are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. A meal that provides all of these
nutrients is considered healthy. It is fortunate that foods that contain these nutrients are not necessarily difficult to cook or prepare. Let’s look at the checklist below.Complex carbohydrates – They can be obtained from whole grains such as wheat, oat, rice, millet, buckwheat, rye, spelt etc.Whole grain baked goods such as bread, muffin, pancake, waffle, granola or muesli, cereal bars, and cookies etc can be purchased from supermarkets in some places or
health food stores in most cases. Stock them up in your freezer for convenience. You may also make your own and freeze them.
You may cook up some whole grain cereal using a slow cooker (crock pot) the night before and it will be ready for breakfast the next morning.Simple carbohydrates – They come in the forms of fruits. They are easily digestible and therefore serve very well as a quick source of energy to get our body started for the new day.Fruits are most nutritious when they are eaten raw. Therefore, fresh fruits are an indispensable item for a quick, healthy breakfast meals.Proteins – Nuts and seeds are rich in proteins.Fats – Nuts and seeds are also a good source of healthy fats.Nuts and seeds supply both proteins and fats. Reasonably, bread or cereal combined with nuts and seeds and fruits make up a healthy,
nutritious breakfast meals.
Fruits, nuts and seeds do not have to be cooked and are healthier when eaten raw by those who have healthy digestion. For those who have weaker digestion, they should eat smaller amounts, eat only one type at a time and chew slowly. If this practice still causes uneasiness in the stomach or stomach ache or bloating, then it would be advisable to lightly roast the nuts and seeds to make them more digestible.
Keep roasted nuts and seeds refrigerated to prevent them from turning rancid too quickly especially in tropical climate. When needed, get them out of the fridge and let warm to room temperature. It is not good to eat cold food, especially during winter time. The body has to expend energy to do an extra work to warm up cold food in our stomach. In the long term, it will wear out our digestive organs and thus our overall health.
Abide by the following principles so that you and your family will have time for healthy breakfast meals amid the busyness of the morning.
Be simple in the combination of
food for breakfast. Include only one grain, one nut or seed and two to three types of fruit.Change the variety of grain, nut and seed and fruit as often as possible.Chew slowly. Eat smaller amount if you are in a hurry. Never swallow your food in an attempt to eat more. More is less and less is more if you do not have plenty of time to allow you to chew slowly.
For middle-aged women of average body weight who lead mostly a sedentary lifestyle, it is fine to have only fruits for
breakfast meals every now and then if you are in a rush. Even when you are not, having more fruits than starchy carbohydrates can be more
beneficial to health.
