Re-examine your choice of breakfast through meal experimentation

Saturday, July 02, 2011 by: Paula Rothstein
Tags: breakfast, meals, health news

(NewsTarget) Choosing what to eat for breakfast is based primarily on social conditioning, and then firmly settled by habit. Despite the common view breakfast is "the most important meal of the day," it has not, for whatever reason, led us to make the most healthy choices in how we begin our day. Rather, our choices too often are based on sugars, grains and caffeine. Because the influence of food marketers often takes precedence over our better inclinations, it is important to step back and consider why a particular choice is being made.

A propensity to make poor choices about what we eat at the very start of the day can also have a shadow effect on the rest of the day as one poor choice can lead to additional poor choices. However, if you consume a breakfast, which provides sustained energy and satisfies hunger, this first act may help keep you away from other obstacles to good health encountered throughout the day.

Not surprisingly, the most popular choices for breakfast are cereals, energy bars, yogurt, bread, fruit juice, and coffee. These choices, of course, are convenient because they can be quickly prepared and/or are easily portable. Both of these factors unquestionably influence our ability to fit breakfast into otherwise busy schedules. All of these food choices, however, can make you prone to the "crash and burn" effect post consumption.

Of course, you should never skip breakfast. However, making it out the door is only half the battle. You do not want to fall flat when you reach your destination. You want a stimulated brain and a highly functioning body upon your arrival.

"Break Fast": Break your nightly fast with breakfast

It is important to consider what the body needs in the early part of the day. The word breakfast is just that, the breaking of a fast. In general, you should go approximately 12 hours without food. This is an important fasting period that ideally should take place every day to allow the digestive system time to adequately rest.

Another important fact about breakfast is that it is the meal most necessary for purposes of detoxification and elimination. For that reason, some of the better choices are fresh fruit, as well as a quality form of protein. Sadly, vegetables are often overlooked at breakfast. Yet they, too, can prove useful when ingested at the beginning of the day.

Break your routine by trying the breakfast experiment

To discover the wider scope of possibilities with regards to breakfast, consider the following simple experiment. Each day for seven days, eat a completely different breakfast meal, and then record how you feel. Here is one example you might consider:

Day one: cereal, toast, and juice
Day two: scrambled organic eggs, grapefruit, and spring greens tossed in an olive oil dressing
Day three: muffin or sweet roll
Day four: protein shake made with whey, berries, rice milk, and super greens
Day five: steel cut oats with almond milk and dried fruit
Day six: steamed greens with quinoa
Day seven: energy bar

For each of the seven days you should keep a mood journal, entering how you feel in the hours between breakfast and lunch. Notice how your body is affected by the different choices you are making. And see whether it may even affect the choices you make for lunch and dinner. At the end of the experiment you may find yourself eating a completely different sort of breakfast - one that sets you on a better course for the rest of your day.

Sources:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/293897-low...
http://bodyecology.com/articles/popular-brea...
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases...

About the author

Paula Rothstein is a freelance writer and certified holistic health coach active in the area of natural health and health freedom advocacy. As a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, she has gained insight into the political nature of food, the failings of a drug-dependent healthcare system, and the uniqueness of individual health. For more information, please visit: http://www.medicinefreeliving.com.