One of the most important steps to a good day is making certain you eat breakfast. When you wake up, your bloodsugar is low, and it is likely you feel the need for caffeine. Even if you do have a caffeine addiction, the most important thing is to hydrate - with water, not coffee - and to literally feed your brain.
Protein is important - yogurt, eggs, meat, milk - all of these are excellent sources of energy. Try to avoid a sugary breakfast - this will leave you drooling on the desk before too long. You'll need a form of carbohydrate as well, but try to avoid processed, white-flour based breads and pastries. These are just as bad for you, and a void of nutritional content as something sugary. Worse, this can spike your yeast, leaving you drained of energy.
Go ahead and drink your coffee, if you must, but tea is a more than adequate substitute, and is far less acidic, and thus much better for your digestion. Green teas, black teas, and white teas all contain caffeine, but herbal teas can be rejuvenating as well. My personal favorite is any type of chai tea.
It's well worth it to wake up twenty or thirty minutes earlier, when doing this will give you energy to last until lunch time without grabbing a *gasp!* doughnut.
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Any recommendations for a quick breakfast food? Are protein drinks advised?
ReplyDeleteAlso, black tea with honey is amazing. And it's much less addicting than coffee.
Be forewarned that the consumption of something sweetened alongside other foods leads to the releasing of insulin and stress hormones in the body. The insulin stores the sugary food or drink alongside everything else you eat within that time as fat. If you consume a sweet protein drink, it's best to wait half an hour before eating anything else.
ReplyDeleteProtein drinks are quite delicious, but not always a good choice for balancing blood sugar. Just make certain to check the sugar content of the drink, and have a healthy snack afterwards (for balancing purposes) as soon as you have adequate time. Something nutritionally dense with high fiber is best for long-term energy. Honestly, I love protein drinks as well, but they aren't advisable as a meal replacement, even considering the protein content. They are better as booster-snacks.
Stonyfield yogurts are a delicious quick breakfast choice - they come in many flavors. Strawberry, peach, raspberry, etc., in individualized servings. These can be found at most grocery stores.
If whole grain toast(or even just bread) with peanut butter is quick enough for you, I would definitely recommend that. The protein is excellent for long-term energy. If peanuts aren't a good choice for you, there are alternatives - sunflower seed butter, almond butter, and cashew butter.
I agree with you, tea with honey is delicious. And honey is great for the immune system, especially if it is raw.
So I'm guessing Poptarts are out of the question. But my question is what about the quick frozen breakfasts that you throw into the microwave for a couple minutes. I know frozen foods are generally bad, but would they be better than Poptarts or pancakes?
ReplyDeleteOh and my favorite tea is peppermint especially if you add honey and honey from Richmond, Virginia (the colonial renactment town) is by far the best honey you will find on the east coast! They even leave the honeycomb for you to chew on 0.o
Yes, unfortunately, poptarts are quite bad for you. Frozen breakfasts would be an improvement on poptarts, but only a little. If you have a toaster oven, you could heat up the breakfast in there, as opposed to the microwave. Microwaving food has a negative impact on the nutritional quality thereof. However, if your only alternative is to microwave it, I would say that is still better than poptarts, due to the reduction in sugar intake. It is good to have a larger, more sustaining meal for breakfast than poptarts.
ReplyDeleteAs delicious as pancakes are, they can be a very bad breakfast choice - especially if they are a brand such as Bisquick. Most pancake mixes are processed, contain white flour, and are often hydrogenated. This all adds up to plenty of simple calories (bad), but no nutritional content.
A great deal depends on the distributor of the frozen food, and the ingredients. The next time you are in the store, read the ingredients on the frozen food container. See how many of them actually are pronounceable, and are actual food items you see every day, as opposed to chemical formulas, additives, and preservatives. If it contains a great deal of gibberish, it is a bad meal choice. Also, avoid Lean Cuisine - it is marketed as healthy, but is actually quite the opposite.
Rather than frozen foods, I suggest all I've described before. Also, fresh fruit is delicious and full of nutrients. If you have time to cook yourself breakfast, see if you can even incorporate a few vegetables. For example: an omelette with bell peppers, snap peas, or spinach.
If not, try to grab something on the way out the door that will provide energy - a banana, apple, or even a carrot. Though perhaps odd for breakfast time, vegetables provide a great deal of long lasting energy. The body burns their complex calories (good) more slowly.
Peppermint tea is delicious, and contains no caffeine. When I'm not drinking chai, I often enjoy a cup of peppermint - it's so refreshing, and is excellent both hot or cold. I love honey with a comb myself, more than just plain honey.
Honey from Richmond sounds lovely. Remember though, that local honey from your area can be excellent for calming allergies. The pollen and the plants they come in contact with in order to create their honey help to build immunity.
My husband has to drink protein drinks as part of a regimen to prevent diabetes. I'm glad to know that he needs to wait 30 minutes before eating anything. We were never told that information before.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I was able to be of help.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned in one of my replies that one must wait at least 30 minutes to eat after having consumed anything sugary. In order to effectually avoid the effects of insulin (storing fat) one should wait two hours for blood glucose levels to return to perfectly normal levels. I apologize for this misinformation.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
-AltHealthGuru