Starting the day with a healthy breakfast can jumpstart your morning and set a positive tone for the whole day. Taking in some fast-breaking fuel is not only energizing, it can sharpen your mental and physical performance and help you maintain weight control. Take these factors into consideration as you're planning the perfect breakfast to power your day.

Food for thought

The positive effects of eating breakfast rely on consistence. Children and adolescents who ate breakfast regularly improved attention, concentration, memory and school achievement, when compared to irregular breakfast eaters or skippers, in a study in the October 2008 Indian Pediatrics. Performance was also affected by the type of foods eaten for breakfast, says a study published in the June 2011 British Journal of Nutrition. School children who ate a breakfast of foods that were low in glycemic index (GI, a ranking of carbohydrates according to impact on glucose) and high in glycemic load (considers the impact of both type and amount of carbohydrates on glucose,) such as oats, whole grains, milk and fruit, reported being more alert and less sluggish.

Mindless munching

"If you're under-fueled," says Roberta Anding, M.S., R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, "you're more likely to snack and practice mindless eating. You owe it to yourself to go into the morning well fueled, with your blood sugar even-keeled."

Protein power

Eating protein at breakfast may have optimal effects on fullness. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, skim milk was measured against a fruit drink at breakfast on fullness scores and calorie intake at lunch. After consuming skim milk at breakfast, the overweight men and women in the study experienced higher satiety than those who had the fruit drink, and they ate an average of 200 fewer calories at lunch.

Dial in to what works for you

"The best breakfast," says Anding, "is one you can and will eat." While you can dream up the ideal, healthy breakfast, it's not good nutrition if it doesn't really happen. Instead, dial into your needs and consider what foods you enjoy and have time to whip up. If you don't have time to prepare breakfast at home, stash instant oatmeal and dried fruit in your desk.

Tipping the scales

Regular breakfast eaters tend to weigh less than those who skip. In fact, those who skip end up eating more throughout the day, which can lead to weight gain, according to a study in the February 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. That a.m. nosh can help reduce hunger throughout the day, making it easier to choose healthy foods. Breakfast even helps keep the weight off. Nearly 80 percent of the almost 3,000 participants in the National Weight Control Registry, who had maintained their weight loss for at least a year, ate breakfast every day.

Keep it balanced

Ideally, says Anding, breakfast should include a low-GI carb, such as whole grains, that don't produce rapid rises or falls in blood sugar, with a source of protein. "Usually people go with something like eggs or yogurt. Oatmeal with milk and fruit also makes a good breakfast." Her favorite fallback breakfast is overnight oatmeal (see recipe), which slow-cooks all night and is ready in the morning. "It's awesome. And you can reheat it the rest of the week," says Anding.

Simple, healthy and delicious ways to break your fast

Try to include whole, minimally processed foods from each of these major food groups:

meat/dairy/nuts/legumes, grains/cereals, and fruits/vegetables.

1. Nut butter on whole grain toast with fruit

2. Small whole wheat tortilla spread with yogurt or nut butter and sliced fruit

3. Veggie omelet with whole-wheat toast

4. Whole-wheat English muffin, low-fat cheese or poached egg, and slice of tomato

5. Fruit and low-fat yogurt smoothie with whole-grain muffin

6. Whole-grain hot cereal, unsweetened fruit and low-fat milk or soymilk

7. Low-fat yogurt with fruit, nuts and granola

8. Hard-boiled egg, banana and whole grain bagel half

 

 

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