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Healthy Breakfast Recipes
From
Thom's Recipe File
"Eat your breakfast. It's the most important meal of
the day!" Why are parents always saying that?
 Well,
imagine you're a car. After a long night of sleeping, your fuel tank
is empty. Breakfast is the fuel that gets you going so you can hit the
road.
Some people skip breakfast because they sleep too late or
because they think it's a way to stay thin. But skipping breakfast
doesn't help people maintain a healthy weight. In fact, someone who
skips breakfast tends to eat more calories throughout the day.
If you find yourself skipping breakfast because you're too
rushed, try these quick breakfasts. They're easy to grab on the way out the
door or can be prepared the night before:
- single servings of whole-grain, low-sugar cereal
- yogurt
- fresh fruit
- whole-grain muffin
- trail mix of nuts, dried fruits, pretzels, crackers, and dry cereal
 Actually,
eating breakfast is good for weight loss. In fact, people who eat
breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.
A healthy breakfast should contain some protein and
some fiber. Protein can come from low fat meats, eggs, beans or dairy.
Fiber can be found in whole grains, vegetables and fruits. A good
example of a healthy breakfast might be something simple like a hard boiled
egg, an orange, and a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk.
Stay away from the sugary cereals, syrups, pastries, and
white breads because they are digested quickly and will leave you hungry and
tired in a couple of hours. Protein and fiber satisfy your hunger and
will keep you feeling full until lunch time.
If you really don't like to eat breakfast, you can split
it up
 into
two smaller meals. Eat a hard boiled egg at home, and an hour or two
later, take a break from work and snack on an apple and a handful of healthy
nuts like pecans or walnuts.
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| Health Benefits
of Eggs? |
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Eggs are a good source of low-cost high-quality protein,
providing 5.5 grams of protein (11.1% of the daily value for
protein) in one egg for a caloric cost of only 68 calories. The
structure of humans and animals is built on protein. We rely on
animal and vegetable protein for our supply of amino acids, and
then our bodies rearrange the nitrogen to create the pattern of
amino acids we require.
In a randomized controlled trial, 160 overweight or obese men
and women were divided into 2 groups, one of which ate a
breakfast including 2 eggs, while the other consumed a bagel
breakfast supplying the same amount of calories and weight mass
(an important control factor in satiety and weight loss
studies). Participants ate their assigned breakfast at least 5
days a week for 8 weeks as part of a low-fat diet with a 1,000
calorie deficit. (Dhurandhar N, Vander Wal J, et al, FASEB
Journal)
Compared to those on the bagel breakfast, egg eaters:
- Lost almost twice as much weight -- egg eaters lost an
average of 6.0 pounds compared to bagel eaters' 3.5 pound
loss.
- Had an 83% greater decrease in waist circumference
- Reported greater improvements in energy
No significant differences were seen between
blood levels of total, HDL and LDL cholesterol, and
triglycerides in either group, confirming what other studies
(Ballesteros MN, Cabrera RM, Am J Clin Nutr) have shown,
including a relative risk study presented at the Experimental
Biology meeting: healthy people can safely enjoy eggs without
increasing their heart attack risk. The relative risk study, a
thorough scientific review of the major studies concerning heart
disease causation, which was conducted by Washington, DC-based
scientific consulting firm, Exponent, found that eggs contribute
just 0.6 percent of men's and 0.4 percent of women's coronary
heart disease risk.
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