In many households, the meal once known as breakfast has faded toward extinction, replaced by nutrient snack bars, toaster pastries and other convenience foods that can be grabbed and eaten on the run. One recent study showed that Americans skip breakfast or eat it on the go 21 percent of the time. Children and young adults, especially, bypass breakfast altogether in increasing numbers.
Curiously, the evidence has never been stronger that a wholesome breakfast is good for you. Over the past few years, nutritionists have been studying the metabolic effects of a morning meal and learning that breakfast does wonders for performance at work and school, prolongs longevity and wards off cardiovascular disease and unwanted pounds.
Lester Breslow, professor and dean emeritus at the UCLA School of Public Health, has been following a sample population in Alameda County, California, since 1965. By now the most senior people in the group are more than 100 years old—in large part due to good habits, such as eating breakfast. When it comes to behavior that could stave off death and disability, he's found that a regular morning meal is important, along with exercising and shunning cigarettes.
Breslow didn't ask whether people ate half a bagel or eggs and bacon, so he can't say why breakfast is so important. "It could be a hundred thousand things," he says. Fortunately, another team has been mining data from four cities across the country to find out more. The information comes from 5,000 adults—equal numbers of blacks and whites—about two-thirds of whom reported their eating and behavioral habits for a decade.
Young adults in the group who said they ate breakfast every day were only half as likely to be obese eight years later. They were equally unlikely to develop insulin resistance syndrome, a metabolic imbalance that can lead to weight gain, diabetes and heart attack. The researchers, in David Ludwig's group at Children's Hospital in Boston, speculate that a good breakfast keeps blood sugar under control, and filling up in the morning helps manage hunger later in the day.
Not any old bowl of cereal will do, however. Ludwig and his team found that high-fiber meals in general protected against weight gain, diabetes and heart disease, probably by slowing nutrient absorption. When Ludwig fed 12 obese teenage boys breakfast and lunch under controlled conditions, he discovered that even the choice between instant and steel-cut oatmeal can make a big difference in overeating. The more rapidly digested, high-carbohydrate meals—including instant oatmeal with sugar—pumped up insulin in the blood and suppressed other hormones, leading to hunger and more eating later in the day.
When researcher Simin Liu at Harvard reviewed the habits of 86,000 middle-aged male physicians, he expected breakfast cereals to stave off heart disease and premature mortality. But the quality of the breakfast was key. Doctors who ate refined-grain cereals reaped fewer benefits than whole-grain cereal eaters. "The refined grains just melt into sugar in your body. They provide energy but not much else," Liu says.
So what's the bottom line? Whole-grain cereals and baked goods provide lasting energy when combined with a good source of protein—eggs, tofu, dairy, fish or lean meat.A modest amount of fat, perhaps from nuts or nut butters, also makes sense. Many people rely on low-fat dairy products, including milk, yogurt and cottage cheese, for a combination of protein and calcium. Breakfast is also a perfect opportunity to add a serving of fruit or 100% fruit juice.
Think whole grains and fiber, adds Linda Van Horn, a nutritionist at Northwestern University. "A bran muffin or whole-grain toast or cereal is a good start, but be sure to add some dairy protein and fruit." Besides getting that all-important fiber, protein (dairy or not) and calcium, the goal is to initiate digestion and metabolism early, so you're burning calories as your day begins.
Brain Berries
For a mental boost, add a handful of blueberries to the morning menu. Studies at Tufts University show that blueberries assist brain functions, especially motor control and memory. So convincing is the research, says neuroscientist James Joseph, that he tosses blueberries into his daily smoothie.
from MSN health
Posted in: Diet