Breakfast Bites!

Good article about breakfast....the most important meal of the day.....

What side of the great debate are you on?
We’re not referring to tofu scramble v. toaster strudel.

We’re talking about breakfast eaters v. those that can’t stand the sight of food in the morning. The former can’t function without the fuel that breakfast provides, and the latter finds all the energy they need in a strong cup of organic, fair-trade java.

Start Strong

Many nutrition experts view breakfast as the most important meal of the day. According to Susan Kraus, MS, RD, registered dietitian at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, if you skip breakfast, “glycogen stores start to deplete, and if you haven’t had any food by lunch, you’ll start to feel fatigued.” Studies have also shown that lack of food causes a loss of focus and concentration. So if you want to be razor-sharp for your morning conference call, it’s best to start the day with something in your stomach besides a soy latte.

Curb Your Cravings

Have you ever skipped breakfast, only to get so hungry by lunchtime that you chowed down on a few slices of pizza, topped off with a big ‘ol chocolate chip cookie? If so, you’ve experienced another downside of not eating breakfast: increased vulnerability to cravings for unhealthy food choices the rest of the day.

Jumpstart Your Metabolism

Many people think that by not eating breakfast you’re cutting calories, and will lose weight. Not so. Eating early in the day jump-starts your metabolism, says Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School. "When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 to 20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight."

Don’t Overdo It

While breakfast may give you the energy to kick ass, more isn’t necessarily better. In fact, a just-released study published in Nutrition Journal demonstrated that eating a big breakfast can actually lead to consuming about 400 more calories in a day.

Health magazine Senior Food and Nutrition Editor Frances Largeman-Roth, a registered dietician and co-author of The CarbLovers Diet, says the study's main finding is to focus on what you're eating for breakfast. The best bet is to eat healthy, filling foods that won’t break the calorie bank, such as fiber-rich whole grains that have the added benefit of improving digestion.

Eat This Not That

You’re not going to get what you need from a bowl of chocolate-frosted sugar bombs.

Good breakfast choices include:

• Oatmeal (high-fiber, low glycemic index), with added blueberries and walnuts and a cup of green tea
• A fruit smoothie with a spoonful of almond butter (in the winter months you can use frozen blueberries and strawberries which are even more nutritious than fresh because they are picked at peak time, and frozen immediately).
• Hummus on 100% whole grain bread or pita
• Banana with peanut butter
• And skip the bagel - unless you want the calorie equivalent of five slices of bread!