Rule 4. Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal during a day. In
the morning, the body starts our internal clock and sets biorhythms. The way we
have breakfast will largely determine our well-being and energy during the day,
hunger and satiety, as well as our mood and even sleep. For many people,
morning is a time without appetite and joy, but this is not good. If you make
your morning nice you will wake up with a zest for life and good appetite - and
this means that you are on the right way to health! When my patients greet the
morning with pleasure and retrieve their appetite, they recover faster.
For many
people, morning is a time without appetite and joy, but this is not good. If
you make your morning nice you will wake up with a zest for life and good
appetite - and this means that you are on the right way to health!
A good breakfast helps to start the day well and keep the
energy until the evening! When you go for a trip and have little petrol you immediately
fill up a full tank. So you are calm and not afraid that the fuel will run out.
Starting the day, it is important to replenish your energy reserves so that
your body works properly throughout the day.
How did the problem arise?
The increase in the pace of life and the lack of daily
regimen shift our schedule, we have late supper and go to bed late. Late supper
and late awakening lead to a lack of time for making breakfast. We also have no
appetite in the morning. All this forms a vicious circle that makes us shift
the meals to later time. Nowadays, about 30% of people do not have breakfast,
many switch to brunch, and the number of calories consumed in the morning is
rapidly decreasing.
How does it affect
health?
Cardiovascular
diseases. Scientific studies have confirmed that regular breakfast
has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system health and reduces the risk
of many diseases. The absent breakfast leads to the impaired lipid profile of
blood and an increase in atherosclerotic vascular lesions. Those who skip
breakfasts have one and a half times more of atherosclerosis plaques. In
addition, the risk of a heart attack and fatal ischemia increases.
Obesity and
diabetes. Breakfast reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome
(obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.). Most obese people do not have
breakfast usually or eat very little at breakfast. Those who have breakfast
regularly have a 30% less chance of obesity and a two-fold lower risk of
diabetes.
Fertility. Breakfast
affects the development of diseases that are difficult to associate with the nutrition.
For example, polycystic ovary genesis is associated with insulin resistance. Hearty
breakfast and low-calorie supper increase insulin sensitivity and improve your
hormonal profile increasing your chances of conception.
The
hunger-satiety system. The absent breakfast leads to impaired satiety and
reduced hunger control throughout the day. Scientists have found that young
people skipping breakfast eat 40% more sweets during the day.
BREAK: Combine breakfast with bright sunlight, physical activity and a pleasant
awakening to guarantee a good start to the day.
Productivity,
stress. A regular breakfast helps to improve concentration and
stabilizes blood sugar level. Children that have regular breakfast have higher IQ.
Our stress resistance decreases if we don’t have breakfast, since we have the
highest level of cortisol in the morning. This combined with absence of food,
increases the risk of muscle destruction and accumulation of fat.
Basic principles
A healthy breakfast is a regular, hearty, high-protein, early breakfast
with sufficient lighting. Such
breakfast promotes fat burning, while visceral fat, rather than subcutaneous
fat, is more depleted (stronger decrease in waist circumference). Breakfast
helps control ghrelin, so you are not hungry throughout the day. Breakfast
stabilizes blood sugar fluctuations, improves mood and productivity. Combine
breakfast with bright sunlight, physical activity and a pleasant awakening to
guarantee a good start to the day. In fact, it is morning that is essential for
our health, as it allows us to restart, tune and synchronize the work of the circadian
rhythm.
High-protein breakfast. High-protein food for breakfast is digested better and saturate more than
during any other meal. A breakfast of two eggs is better than the same in
calories amount of carbohydrates. Having had a breakfast with a high amount of
protein, young people ate 200 kcal less for supper, and during the day did not
feel like eating a snack. Breakfast must contain 50-80 grams of high-quality protein
and a sufficient amount of fat. Carbohydrates for breakfast must constitute a
smaller part of calories. Replace oatmeal with vegetables.
Breakfast diet. Breakfast
must make up more than 30% of the daily calorie intake. Eating a snack with a
cup of coffee is not considered a real breakfast. Not only the scientific research
but also the traditional wisdom mentions the importance of a hearty breakfast: Enjoy breakfast all alone, share
lunch with your best friend and give dinner to your enemy; Breakfast like a
king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper; and many others.
Early breakfast. Have a
breakfast during the first hour after waking up. To be in time you have to get
prepared from the evening. Once you get up, switch on the cooker and get to
your morning routine.
BREAK: Half an hour of morning sunlight is a
scientifically proved and effective procedure for the healthy functioning of
circadian rhythm. In winter, you can have breakfast with the bright
phototherapy lamps on.
Bright breakfast. Switch
a bright light on from the very morning. Light will decrease the levels of
melatonin and cortisol. The morning light improves insulin sensitivity that
contributes to weight loss. Sunlight will improve your mood and increase
dopamine production, as the retina has dopamine neurons in the form a special
retinal dopaminergic system. Half an hour
of morning sunlight is a scientifically proved and effective procedure for
the healthy functioning of circadian rhythm. In winter, you can have breakfast
with the bright phototherapy lamps on.
How to follow the rule?
Ideas and tips.
Quick breakfast. The
best breakfast is one that you can cook in 10-15 minutes. The complicated
dishes and food products with a long cooking time will not suit you. Use spices
and herbs to give more bright taste to usual food.
Wake up easily. An
easy and pleasant morning awakening is an important sign of good health. Set a
pleasant melody with a gradual volume increase for the alarm. In the evening,
visualize the time of awakening; let the numbers stay in your memory. Play the
process of waking up several times in your head, imagine how you wake up easily
five minutes before the alarm and feel great. Focus on the anticipation of a
pleasant awakening.
No appetite. If you
have no appetite in the morning, make a light supper or skip it at all. The
impaired work of the hunger-satiety system sometimes leaves you without appetite in the morning, but as soon as your
condition normalizes, your appetite will come.
Wake up always at the same time. Wake up at the same time no matter what day of week it is. Your body
will get used to waking up in the right phase of sleep and you will get up easier.
You can experiment by shifting the awakening time by 10-20 minutes earlier of
later. But what to do if you need to sleep well? It's simple: go to bed earlier
the next day. This is a simple rule: wake up at the same time, go to sleep when
you get sleepy.
Use a lighting alarm. The
lighting alarm gradually increases the brightness of the light and makes you
wake up easily and quickly. This is a good and useful way, not as traumatic as
a loud alarm sound.
Go out in the sun. A short
walk or a jog outside in sunlight will fine-tune you and restore your appetite.
Great if you have a dog! Remember that sunlight is an amazing source of health
and longevity; use every opportunity to see it, especially in the morning!
BREAK: The lighting
alarm gradually increases the brightness of the light and makes you wake up
easily and quickly. This is a good and useful way, not as traumatic as a loud
alarm sound.
Use a temperature alarm. Temperature is also a signal for our internal clock. At the end of
night, the temperature drops and the blood vessels constrict, more blood enters
the brain, and we wake up more easily. Cut the heating at night and you will wake
up in a pleasant and cheerful coolness in the morning. The morning exercise and
a shower will make you feel warmer, help get rid of sleepiness and boost your
energy. Open the windows wide, go to the balcony, and have a shower-bath.
Work up your appetite. Do the intense morning exercise, but no longer than for 20 minutes. Playing
sports outside and a cold shower with thorough rubbing of the body increase your
appetite well.
A glass of water. Drink
a glass of water after waking up. During the night you lose a little fluid,
morning is the time to restore the water balance.
Avoid concentrated carbohydrates. You can eat the low-carb
vegetables and greens: cabbage, celery, spinach, onions, etc. The
medium-starchy vegetables can be considered usually. Don’t make your breakfast
consisting just of a cereal, albeit useful, not to mention pasta.
Keep satiety until dinner. Use fats to prolong satiety. Ideally, your breakfast should let you not
think about food till your dinner. To prolong satiety, add fats: butter,
coconut oil, olive oil, beef tallow.
A dessert for breakfast. For dessert, consider avocados, nuts, coconut, berries, and fruits. Nuts
perfectly saturate and are good with tea or coffee.
Your oatmeal, sir. Contrary
to myths, an English breakfast is not oatmeal, but eggs, bacon and beans, i.e.
high protein foods. Many producers of cereals are actively promoting their
products, but cereals for breakfast is not the best solution, as they are not
enough to control appetite and energy until a dinner.