One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves in the morning is time! When we are trying to get out the door, anything that saves time is a blessing. And anything that creates and generates health is a blessing.
When you are able to make meals that you heat and eat in the morning, you are starting the day off right.
Eating breakfast is important for adults and children.
For adults, eating breakfast has been linked to weight management and improved concentration and performance. It can also improve endurance for physical exercise. Adults that eat breakfast reduce the risk of diabetes and obesity.
Some of the benefits for children having breakfast have been published by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. When children have breakfast they are more likely to have positive benefits.
Here are some of the USDA's findings:
• Having breakfast helps to improve standard test scores, including reading and math. Breakfast creates better behavior and greater ability to get along with their classmates during the day.
• Having breakfast improves attentiveness, memory, and ability to perform problem-solving tasks.
• Children who eat breakfast are less prone to tardiness, and have fewer absences from school.
• Children who eat breakfast are lest likely to be overweight.
• Eating breakfast creates healthy habits that children can continue later in life.
It is important not only to eat some breakfast, but breakfast should be a balanced part of the day. Having a high-fiber and low-sugar breakfast helps with cognitive function.
Since breakfast is so important, do you want some ideas for breakfast that you can eat quickly? Here are some great ideas to create meals the evening or weekend before, so you can just pull a healthy breakfast out of the refrigerator and go.
My all-time favorite breakfast is a smoothie. Smoothies are a great way to get nutrition into your daily routine. The website VegKitchen has some great ideas to get fruits and vegetables into your morning smoothie. I love adding flax oil and probiotics to make a super smoothie first thing in the morning.
Frittatas, breakfast casseroles and quiches are all wonderful selections. They can be made and then reheated for breakfast in the morning.
Another option is chilled oatmeal in jars. You can make the oatmeal and refrigerate it for up to three days. This oatmeal is a great way to make breakfast for a few days in advance.
For one chilled oatmeal recipe, click here. Find another recipe here.
Making breakfast in the evening or on the weekend can improve your entire week. Enjoy breakfast and its benefits all day, every day!
Live Vibrantly!
Dr. Dae
Dr. Dae's website: www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's book:Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living can be purchased @ www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's Bio:
Dr. Daemon Jones is your diabetes reversal, hormones, metabolism and weight loss expert. Dr. Dae is a naturopathic doctor who treats patients all over the country using Skype and phone appointments. Visit her or schedule a free consultation at her website, www.HealthyDaes.org
Sources:
Benefits of Breakfast. Retrieved August 13, 2015. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/benefitsbreakfast.pdf
Eat Breakfast, Cut Diabetes Risk Making Breakfast a Habit May Cut the Odds of Diabetes, Obesity
Retrieved August 13, 2015. WebMD.
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20120614/breakfast-diabetes-obesity
How To Make Oatmeal in Jars: One Week of Breakfast in 5 Minutes. Retrieved August 13, 2015. The Kitchn.
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-steel-cut-oatmeal-in-jars-one-week-of-breakfast-in-5-minutes-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-143623
Make-Ahead Chilled Oatmeal! RachaelRay. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/make-ahead-chilled-oatmeal
Top 10 Benefits of Green Smoothies. Veg. Kitchen with Nava Atlas. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/top-10-benefits-of-green-smoothies
Reviewed August 14, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith