As the saying goes, "A year's plan starts with spring, a day's plan starts with morning." Perhaps you spend an hour getting dressed before work and another half an hour planning your schedule for the day, yet you can't spare 10 minutes for a proper breakfast? In fact, whether you are a student or an office worker, without sufficient energy, the "machine" will run on fatigue.
Furthermore, skipping breakfast for a long time can unknowingly lead to health problems. The gallbladder is where bile is stored. After eating, the gallbladder contracts and releases bile into the intestines to help digest food. If you skip breakfast, the gallbladder doesn't contract, and the bile remains stored in it. Over time, this can lead to gallstones. Therefore, it's essential to eat breakfast, and to eat it healthily. So, what does everyone have for breakfast? We've summarized 5 types of breakfasts and asked experts to comment on each one.
1. Vegetables + Fruit, Insufficient Energy
This is a preference for some young, white-collar women who strive to stay slim. This type of breakfast mainly includes fresh fruit, fresh-squeezed juice, preserved fruit juice, and vegetable salads. These foods can provide vitamins and a certain amount of dietary fiber. However, no matter how they are combined, this type of breakfast is not balanced enough because it lacks sufficient energy and protein to meet the body's "operational" demands. Over time, it can harm health, so it is not recommended.
Finally, the reporter asked the expert about her own breakfast. She smiled and said: "Because I'm not very tolerant of milk, I have half a cup of milk, half a cup of coffee, a slice of whole-wheat bread, and an extra slice of ham or cheese every day."
2. Bread + Milk, Relatively Healthy
This is the choice for most office workers; it's convenient and time-saving, and it has the basic components. It is recommended to choose whole-wheat bread to intake more fiber, which can lower blood lipids and aid bowel movements. If you get hungry before the morning is over, you can add lettuce, ham, cheese, or butter to the bread, or add a little sugar to the milk.
The expert said: "Many people ask me whether it's better to drink milk hot or cold. The difference is mainly about taste, which is related to personal preference and habit. Only a small amount of water-soluble vitamins is destroyed after heating, so the impact from a nutritional perspective is not significant."
3. Sandwich + Hamburger, Excess Fat
Both of these foods consist of meat, vegetables, and bread, so they are nutritionally adequate, but the biggest problem is their high fat content. Meat, especially fried meat, is high in calories, so it's best not to have this type of breakfast more than three times a week. Moreover, after eating such a breakfast, it's best to avoid fried foods for lunch and dinner that day.
4. Fried Dough Sticks + Soy Milk, Most Filling
In this breakfast, the baked sesame seed cake and fried dough sticks belong to the staple food category, and soy milk is a source of plant protein. So, you have both carbohydrates and protein, which can basically meet the body's energy consumption for a morning. Fried dough sticks and youtiao (fried dough sticks) are both fried foods. Although they provide a strong sense of fullness, they are high in calories, so it is not recommended for overweight people. Even for people with a standard body shape, try to limit it to no more than three times a week. Also, don't add too much sugar to the soy milk. Furthermore, soy milk has a lot of water and low protein content, so it's a good idea to add an egg or replace the soy milk with tofu pudding to get enough protein.
5. Plain Congee + Side Dishes, Lacking Protein
Congee (porridge) is a semi-liquid food that is easy to digest and absorb, making it popular among the elderly. Among various types of congee, Laba Congee (the eighth-day congee) is the best, as it is made by mixing several grains, which is very convenient. More importantly, the combination of different grains can "compensate for each other's shortcomings," increasing the nutritional value of the congee.
However, this breakfast lacks protein-rich foods, so it's recommended to add a glass of milk. Nowadays, many elderly people have started to pay attention to their calcium intake. If you are not tolerant of milk, you can add an egg or minced meat to the congee to add protein.