Breakfast literally means to 'break fast' after a rest of 10-12 hours since the last meal that we have had in the night. Many of us take this meal for granted and do not pay a lot of attention to it. Breakfast is supposed to be taken only if and when we have time otherwise it is simply a matter of a quick cup of coffee or tea with maybe a couple of biscuits, and then off to work. Mornings are the time of rush hour for all of us. A busy time to cook tiffins, packing them, getting the kids ready for school, catching up on the last minute slide that was remaining to be inserted in the presentation etc. etc. Everything that needs to be done is important and grabs your attention, except the one thing that is most crucial for your health, ie, breakfast. Unfortunately, it too gets neglected like so many other things that are actually good for you.

In fact, after a long night's rest, the sugar level in our body drops down considerably during early morning. Therefore, breakfast is a much needed boost for your energy and sugar levels and it should be taken at least an hour after you wake up. Breakfast should be the most important meal of the day for everyone, especially school-going children and teenagers. Breakfast stimulates the brain and improves concentration, memory, focus and also helps maintain optimum body weight.

Breakfast is Healthy

Contrary to popular belief, eating breakfast works much better in stimulating your brains than a cup of coffee or tea does. It helps you by increasing your energy levels and most importantly, retaining those levels during the day. Studies have proved that eating breakfast helps focus more on your tasks and also increases your productivity. Starting your day with a breakfast is beneficial in a number of ways.

Increases Energy Levels

Ever had the feeling of being constantly tired and unable to focus attention on the task before you? Well, blame it on not eating your breakfast because eating breakfast will increase your energy and stamina and maintain those levels through out the day. Those who do not eat breakfast have trouble focusing on important things and are also unable to take decisions. Therefore, take a few minutes off of your morning rush and eat your breakfast. It will only help boost your productivity and therefore more successful at work.

Reduces Cholesterol

Eating breakfast that comprises grains, citrus fruits which contain soluble fiber is good for your cholesterol. This kind of fiber reduces the bad cholesterol and maintains the optimum levels of good cholesterol, thereby preventing heart diseases.

To Maintain Weight

In many studies conducted, it has been proved that maintaining weight is an easier task for people who eat breakfast as opposed to those who do not. It is true across all age groups, right from small children to adults. Many reasons are given for this, first being that eating breakfast satisfies your hunger and appetite and replenishes glucose that has been reduced during the night's rest. This does not cause excessive cravings throughout the day and you end up eating less during the later meals.

It is a misconception that skipping breakfast will lead to intake of lesser calories in your body. The truth is skipping breakfast creates excessive cravings and you end up eating more during the lunch and also snacking between meals. Skipping breakfast also leads to craving for sweets after sometime and waiting until lunch time becomes a daunting task, and you may reach for chocolates, packet of crisps, sweetened juices etc. This is much much more calories than you really require and therefore maintaining weight is difficult. Since the glucose levels are quite high because of this, you end up either skipping lunch or eating very small portions of what your ideal lunch should be. After a short period of time, these sugars again go down and you end up snacking once again. So this becomes a vicious cycle, therefore, to put an end to it, start eating a sensible breakfast.

Increases Metabolism

By not sticking to normal times for eating meals, you are only reducing your body's metabolic rate. Metabolism is the process where whatever you eat is digested and the nutrients converted into the energy required to keep you going. If the rate of this process is reduced, then instead of burning or using up the calories produced, they are stored in the body in the form of fats, increasing our girth. So look upon the breakfast time as an opportunity to kick start your metabolic engine and keep it running the entire day. Do not miss it!

Increases Concentration

It has been established in a number of studies that those who eat breakfast regularly are more concentrated, focused in their work and also have a sharper memory function than those who skip this important meal. It is interesting to note that since ancient times, Indians are very much aware of this fact and a lot of importance is given to the breakfast throughout India. There are a variety of dishes found that are specially designed as breakfast menus. eg. in North India, breakfast menu mostly is made up of a variety of chapatis and parathas accompanied by pickles, yogurt and butter. Rajasthan and Gujrat, it is dhoklas and milk, South Indians start their day with idlis, dosas, uttapams, accompanied by sambar and chutneys, in East the menu contains variety of rice dishes, in Maharashtra, it is pohe (preparations of beaten rice flakes), upmas, thalipeeths, accompanied by chutneys and pickles etc. The overall menu is wide ranging containing quite different dishes in each region. But if you look closely, you will see that whatever the menu is, the rule is the same - a clever combination of carbohydrates, proteins, fats with proper servings of fruits and vegetables.

We have now adopted the western way of living to a great extent and that reflects in what we eat for breakfast too, that is if we have time to eat. Just smearing a little butter on a slice of bread or toast or eating a few refined flour biscuits is not at all a clever thing to do. So let us at least stick to our traditional breakfast meals. Or you can still eat the bread and butter but with slices of tomatoes and cucumbers between the slices and using whole wheat bread instead of the refined white bread.

What Exactly is a Healthy Breakfast?

As per the experts, a breakfast meal should contain adequate amounts of fiber and proteins. It should contain at least one serving of milk or milk products. Instead of eating packaged breakfast cereals, it is better to eat meals that are prepared fresh in the home. In India, there is a practice of drinking tea or coffee with the breakfast, which okay, but there is increasing practice of drinking packaged juices. This is not healthy as packaged juices contain extra sugars and preservatives. Instead you could opt for fresh, unsweetened juices prepared at home.

Even better than drinking juices is to eat a large serving of freshly cut fruits, preferably with their skins on, because while processing fruits for juices, the fiber content in them is reduced to a great extent.

Drink at least a cup of skimmed milk for your daily calcium requirement. You can also eat cheese, paneer etc. occasionally in place of milk.

Some Ideas For Healthy Breakfast

Of course, the best breakfast menu for you is to eat the kind of food that you have been eating from your childhood. Eg. Parathas prepared using veggies like spinach, fenugreek leaves, potatoes etc. For a twist in the taste add paneer, onions, spring onions, a little bit of cheese etc. to the stuffing. This will add your protein requirement to the carbs and veggies in addition to fiber.

If preparing pohe, upma, etc. add vegetables to your preparation. Vegetables like shredded cabbage, finely chopped cauliflower works great with the pohe. You can also add beans, green peas, grated carrots to the upma. It will increase the nutritional value and also increase your vegetable fiber intake for the day. You can also add moong and mataki sprouts to these dishes. Upma can be prepared from oats as well, it tastes delicious and is quicker to prepare.

Flours like ragi, chickpeas, soyabean etc. can be combined with rice flour. Add buttermilk or yogurt to it, crushed chillies, a spoonful of sesame seeds and make tasty pancakes from this. These pancakes are very delicious and will fulfill all your protein and carbohydrates requirements in the morning and will keep you free from hunger pangs until lunch time.

Similarly combine other flours like wheat, bajra (millets), jowar (sorghum), barley, oats etc. to make delicious preparations. You can add spinach, fenugreek, pumpkin, bottle gourd etc. to these flours to prepare parathas and thalipeeths.

Combine yogurts, fresh fruits and honey and blend them together to make quick and easy smoothies. This is a healthy option when you are really short of time as this can be made in just a few minutes.

Substitute some products to make your breakfast healthier. Eg. Substitute butter with yogurts, cut down mayonnaise completely, use only egg whites instead of whole eggs. Make a peanut butter sandwich instead of mayonnaise or cheese spread. Insert slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce etc. between slices.

While preparing parathas, use a nonstick gridle and just smear a smudgeon of ghee after the parathas are cooked well from both sides. Drink skimmed milk in place of whole milk.

There are many more ideas that you can adopt into your breakfast menus. The only thing is you need to start paying more importance to it and once you start, there is no stopping. So go ahead and start your day with a healthy meal and see how positively things turn out for you!