Kick Off Your Day with the Beauty of a Breakfast

If you never take time for breakfast, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to manage your weight and improve your health and mood. Multiple studies have shown that a good healthy breakfast rocks when it comes to staying healthy, dieting successfully, and avoiding those morning mood-swings that lead to cravings for coffee and donuts!

One of my favorite healthy breakfasts is easy to fix: a simple bowl of cereal with non-fat or low-fat milk. The combination of whole grains with protein and dairy are a winner. What’s tricky is choosing the RIGHT kind of cereal. Too many cereals these days have great ads, with boxes plastered with promises such as Healthy! and Good for You! The problem is that they don’t always put high quality products behind those slogans. What to look for before you buy that box of cereal:

Whole grains: seek words such as whole wheat flour, corn, kamut, brown rice, etc., rather than enriched white flour. Fiber: select a cereal that contains more fiber rather than less. Sugar should be listed low on that label (food labels list foods according to their percentage in that product, so that the first few ingredients are the most predominant in the food). Avoid cereals where sugars are listed first (e.g. if a label starts out with Corn syrup and Sucrose as the first two ingredients, put it back on the shelf!).

Fat: avoid cereals with saturated fat or trans fat.

If you’re seeking cereals to satisfy you and your family, consider Natures Path: http://www.naturespath.com/

For example, their Multigrain Flakes feature organic whole oat flour, organic whole wheat meal, and organic wheat bran as the first three ingredients. One serving gives you five grams of fiber and four grams of protein. And the whole family probably will enjoy Shredded Oaty Bites, which feature organic whole oat flour, organic brown rice flour, and organic corn flour. Its great with sliced bananas or strawberries, adding to the nutritional content for you AND your children!

(photo credit: darwinbell)

April 6th, 2009 by Joanne Eglash | Posted in Tips | (2)