THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601100034
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR
SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
``I DON'T HAVE time to eat in the morning.''
``I'm not hungry.''
``If I eat breakfast, I stay hungry all day.''
To dietitians, these familiar excuses for skipping breakfast are about as weak as a bowl of sugar-coated, artificially colored and flavored cereal.
Presidents of countries and companies, stay-at-home moms and traveling salesmen, toddlers and teens, the overweight and underweight - all of us need breakfast. On this one, the health professionals are unanimous.
But only 75 percent of us eat breakfast regularly, according to research done by the Kellogg Co.
If all Americans ate a balanced breakfast daily, the national SAT average might just soar, the federal budget crisis might have been solved on the first try, seminars on total quality management just might become unnecessary.
Because breakfast makes champions.
``Expecting your body to shift into full gear without stopping to refuel is like assuming your car will run on empty,'' writes dietitian and author Elizabeth Somer in her book ``Food & Mood'' (Henry Holt and Co., 1995).
Our mothers and grandmothers seemed to know this. In the '50s, they said it this way: ``No, you can't go out the door without a nice bowl of oatmeal first. Why? Because I said so.''
Today's researchers deliver the breakfast message something like this: ``Studies have shown that breakfast improves the cognitive test performance of children, especially in working memory and verbal fluency.''
This: ``Studies have shown that children and adults who skip breakfast likely will not meet their daily requirements of vitamins A and C, iron, fiber and zinc.''
This: ``Studies have shown that eating breakfast regularly leads to improved psychological well-being among children and adults.''
And this: ``Studies have shown that breakfast eaters burn calories more efficiently than those who boycott breakfast, making it easier for them to maintain or lose weight.''
Pass the oatmeal, please.
Dietitians slice and dice the myths about breakfast with a few quick strokes.
When a patient wails that there's no time for breakfast, Helenbeth Reiss Reynolds, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in the Minneapolis area, suggests readying the table the night before, as she does. After dinner, she sets the table for breakfast, including cereal boxes and a bag of bagels. In the morning, it takes just seconds to add fruit, milk and her two small children to the setting.
Author and nutrition expert Somer says nothing could be quicker than a blender shake of milk and fruit, except maybe a brown-bag breakfast of a low-fat muffin, a wedge of cheese and a piece of fruit, assembled and refrigerated the night before, for eating in the car or at the office.
``I don't know anyone who can't make time for a granola bar and a juice box,'' adds Reynolds, a fiber expert who claims that, without breakfast, it's difficult to get the recommended six to 11 daily servings of bread/cereal/pasta.
When the patient protests, ``I have no appetite in the morning,'' Somer, who lives in Salem, Ore., explains that skipping breakfast because you're not hungry could be a conditioned response (your stomach gets weary of sending the message that it's empty, so it stops) or a sign of overeating the night before (the result of a vicious cycle that begins with overeating in the late afternoon and evening because your body didn't get enough fuel in the morning).
Even if you're not hungry, Somer says, eat breakfast. And be patient. It will take two to three weeks ``to reprogram your hunger cycle'' and get in the breakfast habit, she adds.
If your excuse is that when you eat at 8 a.m., your stomach is growling two hours later, you've probably made poor food choices, registered dietitians say. Back to Nutrition 101.
We all know that doughnuts and coffee don't pack much of a nutritional punch, but Somer points out that fruit salad or toast and jelly also are inferior fuel.
Eat too little protein and you're likely to feel hungry in a few hours. Too much carbohydrate will make you sleepy, Somer says. Add a protein-rich ounce of cheese or container of yogurt to the fruit or jelly toast and your stomach should be peaceful for about four hours.
What if you don't care for cereal, toast and eggs? Not liking traditional breakfast foods is perhaps the weakest excuse for not eating in the morning, breakfast backers say. Consider pizza, grilled cheese, leftovers from dinner. Really.
``All foods fit at breakfast,'' says Bettye Nowlin, a registered dietitian and community nutritionist near Los Angeles. She, too, is a spokesperson for the dietetic association.
Nowlin emphasizes to her clients - who include low-income parents, school food directors and dietitians - the importance of a daily breakfast.
A light meal that rates an ``A'' would include a protein-rich and carbohydrate-rich food, with calories totaling about 25 percent of your daily intake, and no more than 30 percent of those calories from fat.
Traditionalists might appreciate these updates on some familiar items on the breakfast menu:
Eggs. ``The egg has moved up a few notches from its lowly place on the nutritional totem pole,'' according to dietitian Liz Ward, a dietetic association spokesman near Boston.
``The egg is really a great food,'' she says. ``It contains every vitamin except C. And it is an extremely economical source of protein.
``Some current studies say that there's no reason why people with normal serum cholesterol levels can't eat an egg a day.''
Cereal. Somer recommends choosing a cereal that provides at least 3 grams protein per serving, at least 2 grams fiber per serving, no more than 2 grams fat per serving and no more than 4 grams sugar per serving. Read the label before you buy.
Coffee. Fifteen ounces a day of coffee with caffeine seems safe, according to current research.
``Any more than that,'' says Somer, ``may interfere with blood sugar levels, make you irritable, make you tired in a few hours and keep you awake at night.''
To start your day off right, try some of the following balanced-breakfast recipes. RECIPES ON PAGE F5 ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
[Color Photo]
A nutritious breakfast might include this tasty combination of
oatmeal, 1 percent milk, bananas and a glass of pineapple juice.
BREAKFAST ON THE RUN
None of these quick and easy low-fat breakfasts takes longer
than five minutes to assemble. Many will appeal to those who dislike
traditional breakfast foods. And each offers a balance of protein
and carbohydrates.
Fill a crepe with low-fat ricotta cheese and fruit.
Have a ready-to-eat cereal with low-fat milk and fresh fruit.
Fill a tortilla with shredded carrots, zucchini, low-fat cheese
and salsa.
Have a cup of vegetable soup with cheese and bread.
Mix fresh fruit into vanilla yogurt.
Blend fresh fruit and low-fat milk into a smoothie.
Mix dried apricots with low-fat granola and milk.
Fill a honeydew melon half with nonfat yogurt and sprinkle with
sesame seeds.
Fill a flour tortilla with cottage cheese and fresh fruit, and
warm it in the microwave.
Top an English muffin with 1 ounce nonfat cheese and broil. Serve
with a glass of orange juice.
Toast a frozen whole-wheat waffle and top with fat-free sour
cream and blueberries.
Warm a low-fat bran muffin and serve with applesauce and yogurt.
Spread peanut butter on toast and add a sliced banana. Serve with
orange juice.
Spread fat-free cream cheese on a whole-wheat bagel Serve with
orange juice and a bowl of fresh strawberries.
Have a slice of vegetarian pizza. Serve with fruit juice.
Source: ``Food & Mood'' by Elizabeth Somer (Henry Holt and Co.,
1995)
by CNB