Breakfast Is The Mother Of All Meals
Forget about sleeping in late. Forget about the two-in-one meal of the century which they term ‘brunch’. Let me tell you the truth that of all the meals you should have, breakfast is the mother of them all. Yet sadly, many people choose to neglect breakfast or skip it entirely because of their busy schedules.
It’s time to wake up to reality! According to a survey done by the Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC), one in five people eat breakfast in Hong Kong, while in Philippines, the number is one to four. Closer to home, only ten per cent of Singaporeans and Malaysians skip breakfast.
Eating breakfast helps you start your day right. You need to consider that you have not had anything for the last six to eight hours while in sleep mode. Your starved body needs nourishment in the form of food to boost the fuel engine first thing in the morning in order to meet the many challenges in the entire day. You cannot fight a battle and win convincingly if your troops are weak and malnourished. You cannot think strategically and focus on your activities if your tummy is growling away. You cannot grow if your hunger pangs lead to your body feeding on your hard gained muscles in starvation mode.
Over and above them all, breakfast helps you lay the foundation for life-long health benefits. In a study done by the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, the results showed that people who ate breakfast had a 35 to 50 per cent lower rate of insulin resistance compared to those who skipped the meal. Insulin resistance is a marker for diabetes and heart disease.
From what I have observed, a hearty energy boosting morning meal can help you lose weight! This is absolutely true as people who skip breakfast often think they are cutting calories. But what they fail to realise is that by late morning or lunch, the same person starts feeling starved. People who skip breakfast naturally replacing calories during the day with incessant nibbling and this often leads to bingeing at lunch and dinner. Without any doubt, skipping breakfast is not the way to go to lose weight. Insistent people are only setting themselves up for failure and further misery.
When you eat your breakfast regularly, you have developed a good habit. This almost always translates into other good habits such as starting to exercise regularly.
Breakfasts need not be an elaborate affair. In fact, the simpler the better. What is most important is you must enjoy your breakfast as it fills you up slowly and preps you for the entire day. When you start right, the whole day is right. Here’s how to prepare a simple yet flavourlicious energy boosting morning meal rich in fibre, proteins and complex carbohydrates. Enjoy!