Have You Had Your Breakfast Today?

I hope your answer to that is a YES.

Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day and I can not stress enough of how important it is because there are so many health benefits you can get by eating breakfast everyday. The term 'breakfast' itself means to break the fast, literally. At night time when you are asleep, your body is under a fasting state because for 8 hours or more, you are not consuming any foods or drink. During this fasting state, your metabolism slows down so your food is being digested at a slower rate and your body is conserving energy rather than burning it off. So when you eat breakfast, you are breaking this fasting period which will help to kick start your metabolism again.

If that's not enough to convince you... the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) has confirmed that eating breakfast can have all these awesome benefits:

• It can assist you in maintaining a healthy weight - breakfast skippers are more likely to binge at lunch and, as most of us are aware, a habit of binge eating can lead to an unhealthy weight gain over time. So, eat breakfast if you want to keep at a healthy weight.
• It improves your alertness, concentration, mental performance and memory - definitely useful for all you school kids and uni students!
• It provides energy and important nutrients so you won't feel so tired and lethargic in the morning
• Reduces your tendency to snack on unhealthy food during the day
• Improves your mood - for those of you who are not a 'morning person' like myself, eating breakfast can help us to feel less irritated and grumpy in the mornings (which I'm sure our family will appreciate... haha)
• Leads to a higher intake of nutrients for our body such as carbohydrate, calcium, fibre and some vitamins and minerals - of course, this is only if you choose a nutritious and healthy breakfast.

So... What is considered as a healthy breakfast?

Well, DAA has defined it as one which is low in saturated fats, high in fibre and packed with lots of vitamins and minerals. Saturated fats are 'bad' fats which increase your 'bad' cholesterol levels and these are usually found in animals or animal-made products such as milk, cheese, butter etc. So if you are having milk or other dairy products with your breakfast, try to choose the low fat variety. Fibre can be found in some fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and wholegrain foods. It is beneficial for your digestive health and research has shown that it lowers your risk of obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. Therefore, choose breakfast cereals with a high fibre content or choose wholegrain foods (e.g. wholemeal bread, oats, muesli) which are naturally rich in fibre.

Here are some suggestions of easy, quick and healthy breakfast ideas:

A fresh fruit smoothie made with skim milk and yoghurt - sometimes I would add a tablespoon of wheat germ to make it more filling

My Blueberry and Green Apple Smoothie  :)

A bowl of wholegrain cereal with low fat milk and fruit

Muesli with a variety of fruits and nuts - can be topped with low fat yoghurt

This is me trying to be creative with my food (muesli, yoghurt & kiwi fruit)

Pancakes with fruit and yoghurt - not cream (maybe only on occasions and try to minimise the portion)

Scrambled eggs with wholegrain toast - my personal favourite is having it with fresh baby spinach and mushrooms (Yumm!!)

Excuse my half eaten food, but you get the idea...

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to eat breakfast... :)

Personally, my usual breakfast is a bowl of cereal consisting of 2 weet-bix with a cup of skim milk, and a piece of fruit. Usually, I would have one nectarine or a banana or a handful of grapes - it just depends on what we have available at home. I know it is common for a lot of people to be rushing for time in the mornings, so some tips would be to always have good, wholegrain cereals in your pantry (this is a quick and easy option). You can also prepare something the night before (this works well for smoothies or pancake batter which you can cover and keep in the fridge overnight) or buy small snack-size cereal boxes to take to work or uni. I always make sure that I eat breakfast even when I am short of time - for me, when I'm in a hurry, I would grab a banana, or a breakfast drink (like Up&Go) and something small like a muesli bar to eat on the go. If you wake up not feeling hungry, you can delay the time of eating breakfast for another half hour or so, but the most important thing is to not skip the meal completely.

Make a habit to ensure that you always start your day off with a healthy breakfast :)

Until next time...

- Fitria