A recently published study out of U of Minnesota have found further evidence to support the importance of encouraging teens to eat breakfast regularly. Researchers examined the association between breakfast frequency and five-year body weight change in over 2,000 teens, and the results indicate that daily breakfast eaters consumed a healthier diet and were more physically active than breakfast skippers during adolescence. This shouldn’t be a surprise as eating a healthy meal provides us with energy to be active both physically and mentally. We aren’t talking about a Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast, but rather a healthy meal. And the benefits continue on as the five year follow-up sowed that the daily breakfast eaters also tended to gain less weight and have lower body mass index levels compared with those who had skipped breakfast as adolescents. So habits that are formed when we are young tend to follow us through life.
There is misinformation, especially in girls, that skipping breakfast is a good way to save on calories, but actually the opposite is true. Skipping breakfast doesn’t give us the energy to do physical work and burn calories, but it also creates cravings especially for sugar because our brains do not have a proper balance of amino acids. Eating a healthy breakfast helps us avoid overeating later in the day.
One product I recommend to most of my nutrition and acupuncture patients is some sort of whey protein. Ideally a whey and ‘green’ drink. I like NanoGreens and NanoPro that can be ordered from Emerson Ecologics, but some people have problems with the soy lecithin in the NanoPro so there are other products such as Whey Cool from Designs for Health, or ImuPlus.
In Health
George Mandler
Acupuncture , Nutrition & Chinese Herbal Medicine