We all have heard the saying “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper”, why is breakfast considered to be the most important meal?
Breakfast is the 1st meal of the day. It is considered extremely important. Breakfast literally means to break the fast after a night of sleep. Most importantly, breakfast like a king does not mean over eat. It depicts richness of nutrients in a breakfast menu. Consuming adequate calories and majority of nutrients in first meal of the day provides us with energy and helps in burning it out throughout the day without turning it into fat. It also helps us to cut down our food intake in the latter meals and aids in weight loss. Skipping breakfast leads to overeating in other meals and eventually results in weight gain.
Benefits of Breakfast
- Having breakfast daily boosts our metabolism.
- It provides us with energy.
- Keeps us fresh and happy, uplifting our mood and productivity.
- It helps us to achieve our weight loss goals and prevent obesity by controlling our hunger pangs throughout the day.
- Breakfast is important for our physical and mental well-being.
- It helps in controlling our blood sugar and insulin levels.
What should be your ideal breakfast?
Breakfast should be wholesome, tasty and should provide us with the necessary nutrients and energy for the day ahead for our tasks. Whole-grain cereals and their flours provide us with carbohydrates. Egg and milk as well as curd, paneer and yogurt provides us protein. Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes etc can all be incorporated for a nutritious and healthy breakfast. We should stay from canned juices and fruit juices. We can instead opt for fresher options and prefer fresh and seasonal fruits. Oily and fried food items should be avoided especially for breakfast as they do more harm than good. One of the most important thing is to avoid consumption of tea and coffee with breakfast. It hinders absorption of nutrients that you consume. You can prefer green tea or lemon tea with it instead.
Examples of a Healthy Breakfast
A fruit like apple, pear, banana etc along with a glass of milk, boiled egg, sprout bowl, oats is the quickest and most nutritious breakfast for people on the go.
Traditional Indian delicacies like upma, poha, dalia, parathas, thepla etc are all carbohydrate rich breakfast options to which you add a fruit and a cup of milk or egg to ensure a breakfast balanced in all nutrients.