After a night's sleep, the glucose stored in the body is depleted, making it urgent to replenish energy and nutrients. However, many people do not pay enough attention to breakfast, often eating something casually or skipping it altogether. This is certainly convenient, but the impact on health is immeasurable. Whether one eats breakfast and how the breakfast is composed are extremely important for health.
Vegetarian Breakfast Group
Ms. Chen, who is particularly mindful of dietary nutrition, is now a fervent lover of vegetarian breakfast. "I use yeast powder, black sesame powder, milk powder, almond powder, Job's tears powder, brown rice powder, raisins, and other ingredients, mixed together to make a thick porridge. Later, I heard someone say that eating fruit in the morning is like gold, at noon like silver, and in the evening like copper, so I added fruit to the breakfast menu." In addition, Ms. Chen's breakfast also includes a bottle of yogurt, a little lettuce, one boiled egg, and two slices of toasted whole wheat bread. Because she eats a lot for breakfast, Ms. Chen does not feel too hungry at noon.
Nutritionist's comment: Overall, this breakfast is rich and balanced in variety. The yeast powder in the thick porridge is a good source of B vitamins. This eating habit is a good choice for vegetarians.
Sconge and Youtiao Group
While more and more people are leaning towards Western-style breakfast, Ms. Zhang, an editor at a magazine, still has a special fondness for the traditional Chinese breakfast of sconge and youtiao with soy milk. "I often ate youtiao when I was a child. After growing up, I felt that youtiao, being a fried food, is unhealthy, so now I choose sconge for breakfast."
Nutritionist's comment: Foods like sconge, youtiao, radish cakes, and pan-fried dumplings all have a problem of being high in oil. You can see the oil on the surface of youtiao, so people are cautious when eating it. However, people often think that sconge is baked and doesn't have a greasy surface, so it must have fewer calories and oil. But this is not necessarily the case. The reason sconge is crispy and delicious is because a lot of oil is added during its preparation. The calories of one sconge are about 230-250, with about 25% of the calories coming from fat. Coupled with soy milk, which is also a medium-fat food, the amount of oil in this combination is excessively high. While the protein in the sconge and youtiao with soy milk combination is acceptable, the fat content is too high and the quality is low.
Nutritionist's suggestion: This type of breakfast is high in calories and fat, so it should not be eaten more than once a week. Moreover, the lunch and dinner on that day must be as light as possible, avoiding fried or stir-fried foods. This type of breakfast also lacks vegetables, so they should be supplemented in the other two meals. As for fruit, it depends on personal habit; you can eat one serving, or not eat it in the morning and have one serving each at noon and in the afternoon. Buy unsweetened soy milk and add sugar yourself. The sesame seeds on sconge are often not chewed thoroughly and can stick to the stomach wall after being swallowed, which can easily cause stomach pain for some people, so please be careful when eating.
Western Breakfast Group
On the ground floor of an office building, there is a Western fast-food restaurant. Therefore, "a ham and egg sandwich with a cup of milk tea" is almost Mr. Chen's, a manager in the planning department of a foreign-invested company, unbreakable breakfast routine from Monday to Friday. Compared to lunch and dinner, he thinks breakfast is just to provide energy for the morning's work. "I can't be bothered to think about what to change for breakfast," he admitted frankly.
Nutritionist's comment: The fat intake may be too high. First, the patty used in Western fast-food hamburgers has a relatively high fat content. If you make it at home, you can choose leaner meat to reduce the proportion of fat. Secondly, whether it's the ham in the sandwich or the meat in the burger, it is pan-fried. Add to that the fried egg and a thick layer of high-fat salad dressing or cream, unless the other two meals of the day are low in oil and meat, the total fat intake for the day is simply too much. Coffee and milk tea are another problem. Milk tea should never replace milk because it contains very little milk and added sugar. A better choice is to pair it with low-fat milk. As for drinking coffee in the morning, this is a personal habit and doesn't necessarily have to be removed from breakfast. Moreover, drinking coffee and tea in the morning can not only refresh you but also, for those who drink it infrequently and are not addicted, it can stimulate bowel movements and slightly relieve constipation. However, avoid drinking black coffee on an empty stomach as it can irritate the stomach.
Nutritionist's suggestion: This type of breakfast has a small amount of vegetables, so they should be supplemented more at lunch and dinner. Limit coffee to two cups a day. However, it's best to drink tea and coffee two hours before or after a meal, as they can affect the body's absorption of iron. So try not to drink them during meals. This type of breakfast can easily lead to excessive fat intake, so it should not be eaten more than three times a week.
It is recommended not to order combo meals; for example, if you eat a burger, don't also have french fries. Choose a small glass of orange juice or milk as a drink, instead of sugary soda. Additionally, avoid fried or stir-fried foods for lunch and dinner that day, and try to choose cooking methods like boiling or steaming.
Bread and Milk Group
Ms. Lin, an accountant at a trading company, often has pineapple bread, red bean paste bread, or cream bread for breakfast, along with a bottle of milk, sometimes with coffee. Many families adopt this model for breakfast because it is convenient and time-saving.
Nutritionist's comment: Filled breads, whether sweet or savory, contain a considerable amount of fat and sugar. They are also highly processed and have low nutritional value, making them unsuitable as a breakfast. One drawback of a breakfast too high in sugar is that it causes your blood sugar to rise quickly and then fall, and it can fall to a low level. By 10 a.m., your energy levels might start to decline.
A breakfast combination should include both carbohydrates and protein, and it's best to eat complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat bread or oatmeal, as they can help stabilize blood sugar. Toast bread might seem "safer" as it's not filled and doesn't have powdered sugar on top. However, for bread to be tasty, it must contain a fair amount of oil, especially soft and delicious bread like fresh milk toast or egg toast, which are made with extra oil. As for the butter, jam, or peanut butter spread on toast, peanut butter is also high in calories and fat, so it should be used sparingly.
Nutritionist's suggestion: For children over two years old and adults, you can switch to low-fat or skim milk to reduce the total daily fat intake. Filled breads are high in calories and fat, so don't eat them often. If you want something sweet, you might consider spreading a small spoonful of jam on toast. Also, you can often change the type of jam you spread on toast to avoid accumulating trans fatty acids from butter, aflatoxins from peanut butter, and sugar from jam every day, and use less of each. Two slices of toast with peanut butter or butter, or one slice with low-fat cheese, along with a bottle of low-fat milk or yogurt is a more appropriate choice. If you have time, prepare some lettuce, tomato, and cucumber to have with it for a more balanced nutritional intake.