National Nutrition Month Starts with breakfast
March 28, 2022
National Nutrition Month starts with breakfast
By Katie Minor
Don’t know where to start with improving your nutrition? Well, the best place to start is the beginning — the beginning of your day, as we explore as National Nutrition Month winds down this week.
The old adage is true: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Adults who eat breakfast regularly are more likely to eat necessary vitamins and minerals, control their weight and blood sugar levels and have more mental clarity and physical energy to perform better at work or anything else throughout the day.
Breakfast is even more important for children. It allows them to meet daily nutrition requirements, stay at a healthy weight and improves the ability to concentrate in school.
Even though studies show that more than 90% of Americans agree that breakfast is more important than lunch or dinner, less than a third of Americans actually eat breakfast daily.
And no, coffee doesn’t count as a healthy breakfast!
While coffee with breakfast is traditional, it’s not the only option. Even if you take your daily coffee black, no sugar, it’s easy to develop a caffeine addiction, which can leave you feeling a little lost if you can’t get a cup of java first thing in the morning.
To other coffee lovers out there, it might seem impossible, but try taking notice of a possible caffeine dependency and weaning it out of your diet. Green tea has many more benefits than coffee and still has that little kick of caffeine you might need to get through your day.
Now, just any breakfast isn’t always nutritious. For example, eating a big bowl of sugary cereal might leave you feeling worse off than if you hadn’t eaten anything at all. Instead, opt for something with lean protein, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
Making a healthy breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. In fact, cereal can be a great option for breakfast as long as it’s not packed with sugar. A healthy cereal option should have at least 3g of fiber in each serving, and it shouldn’t have much more than 160 calories per serving.
It’s OK to treat yourself every once in a while to something sweet, but typically the first meal of the day is a bad time for that. Remember to top off your healthy cereal with some sliced fruit and low-fat milk.
Cutting added sugar out of your diet is always a good idea. Get in the habit of checking the nutrition labels when you buy food, and if sugar or high fructose corn syrup are near the top, you might want to choose another option. Sugars are empty calories, offering little to no nutrition at all.
Along with cereal, some whole grain toast with fruit and yogurt is a quick and healthy way to start the day. You can also opt for a whole grain bagel instead of toast, or throw some oatmeal or a smoothie in the mix.
Try this healthy, customizable breakfast burrito recipe for a delicious, healthy start to your day. You can even make it ahead of time, freeze it, and heat it up in the morning to save time.
Cooking ahead of time like this is sometimes called meal preparation (meal prepping), and it can make a world of difference when it comes to healthy eating. I know I don’t always have the energy first thing in the morning to make a nutritious breakfast, which can discourage breakfast altogether.
But if there’s already a healthy breakfast I prepared for myself the previous evening in the freezer, it makes my morning almost effortless.
Substituting coffee for green tea or water, adding fruits and vegetables to your diet, cutting out sugar and meal prepping — these tips don’t only apply to breakfast.
These healthy ways to start your morning also serve as useful general advice for the rest of your day, once you’ve finished that delicious whole grain breakfast burrito.
The old adage is true: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Adults who eat breakfast regularly are more likely to eat necessary vitamins and minerals, control their weight and blood sugar levels and have more mental clarity and physical energy to perform better at work or anything else throughout the day.
Breakfast is even more important for children. It allows them to meet daily nutrition requirements, stay at a healthy weight and improves the ability to concentrate in school.
Even though studies show that more than 90% of Americans agree that breakfast is more important than lunch or dinner, less than a third of Americans actually eat breakfast daily.
And no, coffee doesn’t count as a healthy breakfast!
While coffee with breakfast is traditional, it’s not the only option. Even if you take your daily coffee black, no sugar, it’s easy to develop a caffeine addiction, which can leave you feeling a little lost if you can’t get a cup of java first thing in the morning.
To other coffee lovers out there, it might seem impossible, but try taking notice of a possible caffeine dependency and weaning it out of your diet. Green tea has many more benefits than coffee and still has that little kick of caffeine you might need to get through your day.
Now, just any breakfast isn’t always nutritious. For example, eating a big bowl of sugary cereal might leave you feeling worse off than if you hadn’t eaten anything at all. Instead, opt for something with lean protein, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
Making a healthy breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. In fact, cereal can be a great option for breakfast as long as it’s not packed with sugar. A healthy cereal option should have at least 3g of fiber in each serving, and it shouldn’t have much more than 160 calories per serving.
It’s OK to treat yourself every once in a while to something sweet, but typically the first meal of the day is a bad time for that. Remember to top off your healthy cereal with some sliced fruit and low-fat milk.
Cutting added sugar out of your diet is always a good idea. Get in the habit of checking the nutrition labels when you buy food, and if sugar or high fructose corn syrup are near the top, you might want to choose another option. Sugars are empty calories, offering little to no nutrition at all.
Along with cereal, some whole grain toast with fruit and yogurt is a quick and healthy way to start the day. You can also opt for a whole grain bagel instead of toast, or throw some oatmeal or a smoothie in the mix.
Try this healthy, customizable breakfast burrito recipe for a delicious, healthy start to your day. You can even make it ahead of time, freeze it, and heat it up in the morning to save time.
Cooking ahead of time like this is sometimes called meal preparation (meal prepping), and it can make a world of difference when it comes to healthy eating. I know I don’t always have the energy first thing in the morning to make a nutritious breakfast, which can discourage breakfast altogether.
But if there’s already a healthy breakfast I prepared for myself the previous evening in the freezer, it makes my morning almost effortless.
Substituting coffee for green tea or water, adding fruits and vegetables to your diet, cutting out sugar and meal prepping — these tips don’t only apply to breakfast.
These healthy ways to start your morning also serve as useful general advice for the rest of your day, once you’ve finished that delicious whole grain breakfast burrito.
