Breakfast or sleep? It’s not easy for me to be health conscious.

28 November 2010 in Delicious!

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, usually consumed in the morning.  The word is a compound of “break” and “fast”, referring to the conclusion of fasting since the previous day’s last meal.  Breakfast meals vary widely in different cultures around the world, but often include a carbohydrate such as cereal or rice, fruit and/or vegetable, protein, sometimes dairy, and beverage.  Breakfast buffets and new fast food breakfast items are very popular in the U.S.

I am not a morning person and breakfast is probably the most skipped meal of the day for me.  When I get the opportunity to have a good breakfast I usually do not pass. I have expressed my love for pancakes in a previous blog, but I also enjoy many other breakfast items.  Until my mid 30’s I would have a large bowl of some of the sweetest cereals that i could find.  Crunch Berries was on the top of the list.  One day, I decided that I preferred the extra sleep over the morning bowl of sugar filled cereal.  I actually lost weight and saved money on groceries. Upon further research of this topic, I have found that skipping the first meal may not be the healthiest thing to do.

Breakfast from Burgess B&B

Studies show that children who eat breakfast do better in school.  It doesn’t take much further thought to realize adults will feel better and perform better at work as well.  Whether you work at home, on the farm, at the office, at school, or on the road, it is not a good idea to skip breakfast.  Eating a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Most people give a variety of reasons for not eating breakfast. A common reason is that they are not hungry in the morning, which is a result of eating a full meal late in the evening or late snacking. When they go to bed, the body is still busy digesting all that food. Digestion then goes into a slower gear during the hours of sleep and there is still food in the stomach in the morning. The stomach needs a rest too. A tired stomach does not feel like digesting a big breakfast. When you get up in the morning, your glucose or blood sugar level is at its lowest point in the day. Glucose is the basic fuel for the brain and central nervous system. A good breakfast will keep you from being tired and irritable by mid-morning.

Maybe I can, one day, take this advice and wake up an extra 30 minutes to participate in the most important meal of the day.  Until then, I feel pretty good knowing that I had that extra time in bed.

Source – Wikipedia, About.com, beyondthebend.com

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28 November 2010 Delicious!

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