Tuesday, March 29, 2016

What is a Complete Breakfast?

There's been a lot of debate about breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day, it's not as important as we thought, eggs are bad for you, eggs are good for you. It's the most analyzed, discussed and delicious meal. There is however, no debate about brunch. Brunch is awesome. For a while we were told by various spokes animals that cereals are part of a complete breakfast. But what is a complete breakfast? As you might have guessed, It all comes down to chemistry.  This is usually what would appear when the spokes-animal would mention a complete breakfast. But get this image out of your head. Scientifically, this is not a good breakfast. 


There are two types of food that are best for you in the morning, from a nutrition perspective. Carbs and Proteins. Carbohydrates are the starches and sugars you eat in the form of grains, fruits and vegetables. Once ingested, carbs break down into glucose and other simple sugars, which are the body's key sources of energy. Your brain is the biggest glucose hog of all. It consumes about 120 g of glucose daily, which is 60% of your daily glucose usage. And yes, thinking hard, does use more glucose. Now there are two types of carbohydrates, complex and simple. It takes your body longer to break down complex carbs than it does the simple ones, giving your brain a longer, more even release of glucose. Simple carbs act more like a quick burst of energy. To prevent your glucose from dropping off halfway through the morning and making you hangry, you should eat fruits, veggies, yogurt, and whole grains. And yes, hangry is scientifically a thing. 


When your body is low on glucose your brain suffers and makes you grumpy and irritable. The second thing you should eat in the morning for a complete breakfast are proteins. They regulate appetite throughout the day. Your digestive system breaks down proteins into peptides. One of those peptides sends signals to your brain to curb your appetite. Eating proteins also releases more dopamine, the chemical associated with the brain's reward center. Once the dopamine is released, your reward center is pinged telling you you're full, which reduces overeating and cravings later in the day. So carbs and proteins are what make a complete breakfast, which is why cereal companies say -œpart of a complete breakfast- since they have the carbs covered. But you have to be careful when reaching for those sugary cereals or pouring a glass of orange juice. If you eat something with a large amount of sugar in it, your pancreas releases insulin. This release of insulin signals your cells to grab ahold of the glucose in your bloodstream and store it as fuel to be used later. So some of carbohydrates in the sugar you just consumed get stored in fat or muscle cells instead of being used as fuel, which leads to fat accumulation. 

Now for those of you who are wondering about eggs for breakfast, well I have good news for you. Eggs are actually really good for you. They're a great source of high quality protein, contain every single B vitamin and a good source of vitamin D. By the way, for those of you milk lovers out there, feel free to drink away at breakfast. The pitch for milk in the morning is weak and to be honest you can find your calcium in many other food sources like nuts and greens. So there you have it. Be sure to eat your carbs and proteins in the morning. And don't forget the fiber, which you can get from beans, oats, fruits and veggies. Watch out for too much saturated fat and avoid trans fats altogether. Other fats, like heart-healthy omega 3s and monounsaturated fats (like the ones in olive oil) are good for you. Like with all things, moderation is key. A lot of your guys are already eating a complete breakfast. Some examples of a good breakfast are oatmeal and fruit, whole wheat toast and eggs, or whole wheat pancakes and some kind of lean protein. Or you can be like me and break Those social constructs of breakfast. I had a spinach salad with a hardboiled egg for breakfast. Yogurt is actually the perfect breakfast food since it has both carbs and protein, with greek yogurt being especially high in protein. By the way, I'm from Pennsylvania, the land of milk. You don't need to pick my accent. It's there. We all know it. Don't make me cry into my water ice. Since you've made it to this point in the video why don't you give it a like and while you're at it subscribe. Be sure to let us know in the comments what you eat in the morning that makes a complete breakfast.

I am just someone who likes to write,especially writing about diet programs. Thanks For Reading My Blog

 
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