Health Guide: What Makes a Perfect Breakfast?
Many office workers, upon waking in the morning, drink a large glass of milk, fry an egg, and then rush out the door, believing this breakfast is very nutritious. However, nutrition experts point out that while this combination provides sufficient protein and fat, it neglects the intake of carbohydrates.
A scientific breakfast should be a well-balanced one, with the ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates at 12:28:60. Cereal foods should account for the largest proportion.
However, if breakfast consists only of staple foods like steamed buns or bread, or foods high in oil like fried dough sticks, excessive intake of starch and fat will lead to a long digestion time. This can cause blood to remain pooled in the digestive system for too long, reducing blood flow to the brain and causing brain cell hypoxia. This results in a feeling of grogginess and slow thinking throughout the morning.
Leftovers Are Not Suitable for Breakfast
Some housewives make fried rice for their children and families in the morning, or simply reheat leftover meals, believing this is a convenient, rich, and nutritionally complete breakfast, not much different from a main meal.
However, after being left overnight, especially vegetables, leftovers can produce nitrites (considered a carcinogen), which can harm human health after consumption.
Breakfast should consist of fresh foods as much as possible. Try to avoid eating leftover vegetables from the previous night. For other leftover foods, be sure to store them properly to prevent spoilage.
Eating While Walking Is Not Recommended
The mornings for office workers are often rushed. For those who live far from their workplace, breakfast is often eaten on the go. Foods like steamed buns, tea eggs, Roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), and Jianbing (savory crepes) sold near residential community gates or bus stops are their first choice. They buy a portion and eat it while walking.
Eating while walking is extremely detrimental to gastrointestinal health and also不利于 (not conducive to) the digestion and absorption of food. Additionally, street food often has potential hygiene issues, which can lead to illness.
It is recommended that if you choose to eat from a street stall for breakfast, first pay attention to hygiene, and second, it's best to buy it and eat it at home or at the office.
The Energy of Breakfast Is Important
Many people keep snacks at home for emergencies. In the morning, when time is not abundant, they often conveniently grab a snack for breakfast, seeing it as quick and easy.
Using snacks as the most important meal of the day, breakfast, is very unscientific. Most snacks are dry foods, which are not easy to digest and absorb for the body, which is in a semi-dehydrated state in the morning. Moreover, the main ingredient of snacks like biscuits is grain. Although they can provide energy in a short time, they will soon make the body feel hungry again. Blood sugar levels will drop significantly by noon. Eating snacks for breakfast can easily lead to malnutrition, a decline in physical fitness, and cause various diseases.
Fruit Breakfast Lacks Nutrition
Skipping breakfast or replacing it with only a fruit for the sake of weight loss will inevitably lead to overeating at lunch and dinner. This not only fails to achieve the goal of weight loss but also brings health risks. At the same time, such a breakfast lacks the glycogen (from staple foods and other carbohydrates) that supplies energy to the brain, and it also lacks the protein needed to maintain vigorous energy. Over time, this can lead to deficiencies in various nutrients and is not advisable.
What is a Perfect Breakfast?
A scientific breakfast should include four categories of food:
1. Foods mainly for providing energy, primarily carbohydrate-rich grain foods such as bread and steamed buns.
2. Foods mainly for supplying protein, primarily meat and poultry eggs.
3. Foods mainly for supplying inorganic salts and vitamins, mainly referring to fresh vegetables and fruits.
4. Dairy products and bean products.
If a breakfast includes all four of the above food categories, it is a nutritionally sufficient breakfast. If three categories are consumed, the breakfast quality is good. If only two or fewer categories are chosen, the breakfast quality is poor.
Skipping Breakfast Leads to Many Diseases
Causes Hypoglycemia: After a night's sleep, the body's nutrients are depleted, and blood sugar levels are low. Skipping or having a small breakfast fails to replenish blood sugar levels in time, leading to symptoms like dizziness, palpitations, limb weakness, and listlessness in the morning. In severe cases, it can lead to hypoglycemic shock, affecting normal work.
Prone to Gallstones: Surveys have found that over 90% of gallstone patients are people who skip or have a small breakfast.
Prone to Stomach Diseases: Skipping breakfast can alter the body's biological rhythm for the digestive system, changing gastrointestinal motility and the secretion of digestive fluids. Without food to neutralize them, digestive fluids can adversely stimulate the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing gastritis. In severe cases, it can lead to peptic ulcers.
Affects Lifespan: Human health and longevity are governed by the body's biological clock. Skipping breakfast disrupts its normal operation. The body's required nutrients are not replenished in time, physiological functions will decline, and the various diseases caused by skipping breakfast will also affect a person's health and lifespan.
Causes Constipation: When meals are regular, the body naturally produces a gastrocolic reflex, which promotes bowel movements. If breakfast is skipped for a long time, this reflex can become disordered, leading to constipation.
Can Increase the Risk of Stroke: Skipping breakfast can lead to a decrease in blood volume and an increase in blood viscosity, forming tiny blood clots that can easily block already narrowed arteries. In the morning, the excitability of the sympathetic nervous system increases, leading to higher blood pressure. These factors all increase the risk of stroke. For people who already have risk factors for stroke, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or severe carotid artery stenosis, long-term skipping of breakfast can more easily trigger a stroke.
(Editor: Peng Juan)