Breakfast
The Most Important Meal of the Day!
You’ve heard it before because it’s true…Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In terms of an Acid-Alkaline diet this will be the area where you are cheating a little bit. You likely will not want to eat a nice leafy green salad for breakfast. The importance of breakfast however is to fuel your body and mind to get you through to lunch without binging on bad food choices.
Reasons why you should eat breakfast
- It will make you smarter - well at least not dumber. After an 8 hour sleep you have likely gone without eating for 8 - 14 hours. This means that your body and brain are running on empty in the morning. You brain needs food (in the form of glucose) to refuel and start running again. Studies have shown that memory is improved for those who eat breakfast.
- It will help you lose weight. Eating to lose weight? People who skip breakfast often overeat during the day. Also, once you are out of the house you are less likely to find nutritious things to eat. Most of what can be found in the office or at school are processed or refined foods which will leave you feeling hungry a short time after consumption. By eating your calorie intake early in the day you are also left with a better chance of burning the fuel you have consumed (as opposed to later in the day when you will likely be sitting on the couch before going to bed).
- It will help you be healthy. Breakfast foods are usually high in fiber and low in fat (or at least they should be if you’re doing it right). This is a great way to keep your heart healthy as this will keep you cholesterol in check. It will also keep your digestive track on schedule.
- It will help your mood. Hungry people are grumpy people. If your stomach isn’t rumbling your mouth won’t be either.
What you should eat for breakfast
I am a big fan of the Smoothie for breakfast. There are lots of different recipes out there but what is important is to get fruits that show up on the alkaline list into the mix. I find breakfast to be a difficult time to be eating a large quantity of alkaline foods because I am rarely in the mood for vegetables. I also have more of a sweet tooth in the morning. I also like to use breakfast as an opportunity to get my fiber in the form of Kellogg’s All Bran Buds which contain psyllium fiber. I realize that a smoothie may involve a higher ratio of acidic foods to alkaline foods but as long as those acidic foods have other nutritional benefits you should be okay.
Kellogg’s All-Bran Buds
This is going to be your breakfast staple. You want to make sure you incorporate this into you breakfast no matter what you are eating. Make sure you take it slow at first with the fiber or else it will not be your friend. Gradually work your way up to 1/3 cup serving. This serving size contains 12 grams of fiber. This is also the only bran to contain Psyllium fiber which has many benefits. They may not look appetizing (especially if you have small mammals for pets) but you need to consider the benefits.
Vegetable Juice Base
You can find many different juices that have vegetable juice mixed in. I like to use pure carrot juice with no preservatives added which should be available at most supermarkets. Once the fruit is added to the smoothie I don’t even notice the taste of the carrot juice. This gives opportunity to increase the ratio of alkaline foods into the mix.
Activia by Dannon
Put the Kellogg’s All-Bran Buds into the suggested serving of Activia Yogurt. It adds texture to the Yogurt while masking the unappealing appearance of the Buds. Activia contains Bifidus Regularis which is a probiotic culture that the stomach loves to help keep everything running smoothly. Look for plain varieties to avoid added sugar. The fruit in the smoothie will more than make up for the lack of flavor.
Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Eat one of these with the meal - it’s alkalizing and filling. You can cut it up and put in the cereal or you can grab it on your way out the door.
Bananas are a high source of potassium. Potassium has many benefits such as helping to lower blood pressure.
Stash Premium: Herbal & Green Tea
Recently voted as best Green and best Herbal tea by Men’s Health Magazine (June 2008), Stash Premium teas are a great alternative to coffee and are alkalizing (coffee is acidifying). Stash has the highest levels of antioxidants compared to other brands.
This may sound like a lot of food but the preparation is really fast (2 minutes max) and if you stick to the suggested serving sizes it doesn’t add up to a lot of food. This combination keeps me satisfied until lunch time which helps me avoid the donut box.
Europe’s Best: 4-Field Berry Mix
These berries have lots of antioxidants that are great for you. Throw a cup of these into the mix. Europe’s Best also has many different combinations of fruits but this one makes some sweet Smoothies.
Once you have all of these in the blender, blend on the highest setting until smooth. You don’t need to add ice as the fruit is frozen and acts as rather tasty ice. Pour into a portable mug and off you go. Just rinse out the blender with hot water and blend another time and it should be good to go for the next day.
There you have it. Just a couple of breakfast ideas that should help you make it through until lunch while adding to your health and keeping you regular. If it starts to get boring try mixing up the different flavors of the products like Activia Yogurt, different Juices (try ones with vegetable bases), and Europe’s Best fruit combinations. You should be able to change the taste enough to keep you interested for a long time.
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