Breakfast Ideas to Jump-Start Your Day
It’s amazing: It can help improve your memory, help you to concentrate, and help you to maintain a healthy weight — and it tastes good, too! So, what is it? Breakfast. Research has uncovered numerous benefits associated with the morning meal.
Feed your brain
Breakfast replenishes the fuel that your body uses up while you sleep — it is literally a break from an overnight fast. Because your brain does not have a storage place for fuel, it is particularly affected by the fast. If your brain’s fuel source, glucose, isn’t refilled after a night's sleep, your brain will not function at an optimal level. It would be like a car running on empty.
It’s not just a theory. Studies have shown that breakfast helps your brain function at its best. According to one study, skipping breakfast has some effect on memory. Researchers reported that people who did not eat breakfast had a decreased ability to remember items from a word list or a story compared with people who did eat breakfast. While these may seem like minor tasks, the ability to remember is key to performing well at home, work, or school. Other important brain functions, such as the ability to pay attention and concentrate, have also been shown to improve with eating breakfast.
Maintain a healthy weight
Research has taught us that people who eat breakfast have a higher-quality diet and are better able to control their weight than people who skip the meal. In fact, 78% of the people listed in the National Weight Control Registry, a database of individuals who successfully lost at least 10% of their body weight and kept it off for at least one year, report eating breakfast every day. In addition, studies show that breakfast eaters are less likely to be obese than their meal-skipping counterparts.
Make it a habit
These tips can help you make breakfast a habit.
- Stock up. Be sure that you always have plenty of breakfast foods in the house.
- Plan ahead. Prepare your breakfast the night before to save yourself preparation time in the morning.
- Take it to go. Prepare commuter-friendly meals that you can grab on your way out the door.
- Don't force it. Don’t make yourself eat foods you don’t like. Try out different foods until you find something you enjoy.
Think outside the box
Whole grain cereal with low-fat milk is a great breakfast option. But go ahead and get creative: Try adding fruit or yogurt to your bowl or eating nontraditional morning foods for breakfast. It is important to choose from several different food groups such as high-fiber whole grains and low-fat dairy products and meats. Here are several options, or use your imagination to create your own morning meal that is both enjoyable and satisfying.
- Whole grain, high-fiber cereal with low-fat milk
- Whole grain, high-fiber bar and a cup of low-fat milk
- Toasted whole grain waffle with sliced fruit and yogurt
- All-natural peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat toast
- Whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese
- Reheated brown rice and a hard-boiled egg
- Grits with low-fat cheese
- Oatmeal with applesauce or raisins
- Pita bread with low-fat yogurt
- Brown rice and beans with fruit
- Chicken noodle soup with fruit
- Last night's leftover veggie pizza
- Fruit smoothie blended with juice and yogurt
References
- Benton, D., and P. Parker. "Breakfast, Blood Glucose, and Cognition." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1998) 67, 772S–778S.
- Rampersaud, G, M.; Pereira, B.; Girard, J. A.; and J. Metzl. "Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents." Journal of the Dietetic Association (2005) 105(5): 743–760.
- Wardlaw, G.M., and J. Hampl. Perspectives in Nutrition. 4th edition. WCB McGraw-Hill. 1999.
- Wing, R, and S. Phelan. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Presented at the symposium “Science-Based Solutions to Obesity: What are the Roles of Academia, Government, Industry, and HealthCare?” held in Boston, MA, March 10–11, 2004 and Anaheim, CA October 2, 2004.
Thanks – some good breakfast ideas there. And some bad ones, too – brown rice and beans?
I guess it’s all what tastes good to you first thing in the morning. I really like savory foods, so leftover rice and beans is actually an ideal breakfast for me. I hadn’t even thought of it…. Having fruit with it is a little odd, though.
Before my trip to Mexico, I would have thought that the beans and rice would have been a disgusting breakfast meal, but now I know that it is a filling meal, that won’t leave me hungry.
I really want to get in routine with making and eating breakfest with my family. I keep telling myself im going to do it.
Oatmeal w/ craisins (dried cranberries) is a great alternative to Raizins – add a little maple syrup for the sweet tooth.
Breakfast is a MUST in our home! How else will your body be able to do the things you need for it to do? Especially after several hrs of fasting during the night… Due to health issues, it’s even MORE important to me!!!
My personal breakfast routine every morning is either; whole wheat pancakes, waffles or french toast with Greek Style yogurt(thicker texture) right on top…...It’s soooooooo gooooooood!!!!! it’s easy and quick and filling!!!!
I love the go lean crunch with chocolate soy milk…YUM!
i dont care for cereal, and im not much of a sweet eater, so sometimes i have cottage cheeese and dry toast for breakfast, its low fat and high in protein, any other heathy breakfast choices, let me know i am open to new ideas.
I’m from the Midwest and we eat syrup on EVERYTHING at breakfast! In the mornings now, I’ll eat the honey wheat Kashi waffles with smart balance butter (no hydrogenated oils or trans fat), smart balance peanut butter (same perks) and 100% pure maple syrup! It’s amazing and sooooo good! It’s almost exactly what I used to eat growing up but it’s so much healthier for me now that I’m health conscious!
Kashi has really disappointed me in changing Autumn Wheat cereal. I just opened a new box, and it is so sweet I don’t think I can eat any more of it. Let people add their own sweetness if they like, but keep it “lightly sweet” as advertised on the box. It is now sickeningly sweet.
I have found that I really enjoy Kashi hot cereal, especially when I add a bit of honey and packet of splenda. Yum!!!
I LOVE all Kashi products. For breakfast I make a “waffle-wich”. 2 scrambled egg whites, couple slices of lean turkey breast, sandwiched between two kashi go-lean waffles. Sometimes I add a bit of “no added sugar” fruit preserves for a touch of sweet. Full of protein and delicious! I also sometimes do a single go lean waffle topped with some natural peanut butter and sliced banana…yumm!
I work at a horse farm in the A.M. before working out and then going to the office for 9 hrs so BREAKFAST is ESSENTIAL!! I love kashi cereal with fresh berries and skim milk. Also I really enjoy flourless cinnamon raisin bread with fat free cream cheese and a piece of fruit. In the winter Oatmeal with almonds…hot before going out in the cold :)
I love all the kashi products. So very good to eat and so very good for me. My breakfast is a coffee smoothie. I use Iced Java by Nestle, 4-5 frozen strawberries,1 C milk, One scoop protein powder, lots of cinnamon, and a shot of good oil…Blend and drink….yum
I love Kahsi Ceral and the waffles so those are a must for me. I have switched to fat-free milk and that makes it that much better! I have to have breakfast every day or I am not right. LOVE KASHI have the ceral bars for my snacks.
Breakfast is probably my biggest problem. I usually don’t allow myselft enough time in the morning to sit down and have a good breakfast. I try to grab something and eat it at my office, but that’s not too often. I wish to start a routine and allow myself enought time to take minute and eat breakfast!
A filling breakfast is very important to me. Everyday i have a small bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter in it. The peanut butter melts into the oatmeal and it is soooo good…tastes just like an oatmeal cookie. Sometimes I’ll put kashi cereal in it to give it a little crunch.
For those who don’t have time for breakfast, in a pinch grab a carnation instant breakfast. It’s got some protein to get you going, and with skim or soy milk, keeps you going for awhile!
You can make it the night before and keep it in a to-go type of cup or bottle and grab it on your way out the door. Or you can stir it into your morning coffee if you get the chocolate kind. The dark chocolate is great! But, there is some sugar in them, so one is plenty!
I prefer scrambled eggs (only part of the yolk) and turkey bacon for breakfast on a whole grain english muffin!! Better than McDonalds breakfast sandwiches ANY DAY!
i love breakfast, so i’m always up to eat it everyday! =]
I just started meeting with a nutritionist and she suggested using 7 whole grain Pilaf and adding cinnamon, raisins and chopped apples while it is cooking. You can divide it up into sandwich bags, freeze them and in the morning pop it in the mircowave for a quick breakfast. It taste great for a snack too.
I’ve been eating Kashi Heart to Heart cereal for quite some time. I really miss it when on vacation, so when I’m away from home travelling on the road, I make sure I have a box with me. Most of the hotel/motel breakfasts are fat laden bombs (you know: sweets, high sugar cereals, make your won waffles, etc). I’m not alone… I see others pouring healthy Heart to heart into their bowls in the breakfast room!