Breakfast has a big impact on your body throughout the day. The reason is, breakfast is the first nutritional intake for the body every day so you have the energy to move. Even so, breakfast is a meal that is often neglected, especially by those who are busy and have fast-paced lifestyles.
So that you are more motivated to have breakfast every morning, let's first find out the various benefits of breakfast for your body below.
- Breakfast prevents several types of disease
A study found that cholesterol levels in the body of women who did not eat breakfast were proven to be higher than those who had breakfast. Not only that, breakfast can also keep you from the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
- Help the process of weight loss
Breakfast with a healthy menu makes you not too hungry at lunch time. As a result, you avoid overeating during the day.
- Help focus
Because your stomach feels full, you can focus your mind on various tasks and activities. Conversely, skipping breakfast can make your thinking decrease. Apart from that, breakfast can also improve your mood in the morning because you have enough energy and enthusiasm to deal with stress while on the way to your place of activity.
Even though it has many benefits, it doesn't mean you can eat any food until you are too full at breakfast. Breakfast should meet 25 to 30 percent of your total nutritional needs for a day. In one serving of breakfast it is recommended to contain 25% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 50% fiber. To make it easier for you to organize a healthy breakfast menu with balanced nutrition, here are suggestions for the types of nutrients you need to include in your breakfast menu.
Carbohydrate
As a source of energy, carbohydrates are of course the nutrients needed after the body fasts for about eight hours during a night's sleep. So that you have enough energy to move throughout the day, you need foods that contain enough carbohydrates at breakfast.
To meet your carbohydrate intake, you can eat whole wheat bread, potatoes and oatmeal as healthier choices than rice. Besides being healthier, carbohydrates from wheat and potatoes can make you full longer.
Proteins
Similar to carbohydrates, protein also functions to provide energy for your body. The difference is, protein can last longer than carbohydrates. Therefore, protein can be an additional source of energy. Apart from being an additional source of energy, protein also keeps you full longer.
You can get protein intake from vegetable and animal sources. You can find vegetable protein in tempeh, tofu, and soy milk. Meanwhile, you can get animal protein from fish, eggs, meat and dairy products.
Fiber and antioxidants
Fruits are an important food for you to include in the breakfast menu. The reason, fiber in fruits helps digestive health. In addition, fruits rich in antioxidants can also protect your body's cells from free radicals which are abundant in pollution and sun exposure during your daily activities.
Fat
Often avoided, fat turns out to have a lot of benefits for your health. The vitamins you get from the vegetables and fruit you eat at breakfast will be absorbed better if your body has sufficient fat. However, not all fats are good for health. You can choose foods with good fat content. You can find good fats in sea fish, nuts, and avocados.
Come on, start eating breakfast regularly from now on. Don't forget to make sure your breakfast menu contains nutrients that are good for the body. As much as possible, avoid consuming instant food as a breakfast menu. Try to cook your own breakfast menu so that food nutrition is maintained. #LiveExcellently