Eating breakfast
It may reduce risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease
From the American Heart Association:
People who eat breakfast are significantly less likely to be obese and diabetic than those who usually don't, researchers reported today at the American Heart Association's 43rd Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
In their study, researchers found that obesity and insulin resistance syndrome rates were 35 percent to 50 percent lower among people who ate breakfast every day compared to those who frequently skipped it.
"Our results suggest that breakfast may really be the most important meal of the day," says Mark A. Pereira, Ph.D., a research associate at Children's Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "It appears that breakfast may play an important role in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease."
Pereira says eating breakfast might have beneficial effects on appetite, insulin resistance and energy metabolism.
"Just the habit of filling your belly in the morning might help people control their hunger throughout the day so they might be less likely to overeat in the morning or at lunch," he says.
"Or, there might be a hormonal basis for some of the effects because the hormone insulin controls blood sugar and blood sugar level is related to how hungry or energetic a person feels."
Insulin resistance syndrome is a metabolic disorder characterized by the combination of several factors such as obesity, high abdominal body fat, high blood pressure, and high fasting levels of blood sugar or the hormone insulin, which helps the body store glucose properly. The syndrome also often includes problems in blood fat metabolism such as high levels of triglycerides and low levels of High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL the "good" cholesterol). Although people with insulin resistance syndrome may not yet have diabetes, their bodies do not use glucose efficiently and those with the condition are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease.
The risk reduction for obesity and insulin resistance was consistent for white men and women and for black men but not for black women, a difference the researchers are continuing to study, Pereira says.
Overall, about 47 percent of the whites and 22 percent of the blacks reported daily breakfast consumption. "Dietary patterns are known to differ widely, probably due to cultural differences, by race and ethnicity and even between men and women," he says.
The subjects included 1,198 black and 1,633 white participants of the CARDIA study whose breakfast habits and risk factors for heart disease were assessed over an eight-year period (1992-2000). Participants were aged 25-37 in 1992. The study results accounted for risk factors such as smoking, low physical activity, alcohol use and demographic factors. The CARDIA study is a prospective study of heart disease risk factors among young adults in four communities: Minneapolis; Oakland, Calif.; Chicago, and Birmingham.
This large, prospective study of young adults from two different racial groups makes a unique contribution to the literature, Pereira says. But, it's limited because researchers can't determine cause and effect from a self-reporting study.
"We need to do more research," he adds. "We have started looking at what people are eating when they eat breakfast, which led to our finding that eating whole-grain cereal each day was associated with a 15 percent reduction in risk for the insulin resistance syndrome."
Whole-grain cereals were defined as those that list a whole grain or bran first in the ingredients list or those that contain a whole grain and have at least 2 grams of fiber per serving.
Co-authors are Alex I. Kartashov, Ph.D.; Linda Van Horn, Ph.D.; Martha Slattery, Ph.D.; David R. Jacobs Jr., Ph.D.; and David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.
HEALTHY BREAKFAST(S)
BY BEATRICE DUPLANTIER-RHEA N.D., M.H.
First drink 2 or 3 cups of heated CELTIC (or EVIAN or mineral water) 30 minutes before eating breakfast.
NUT GRANOLA BREAKFAST
2 or 3 Tbsp. presoaked ALMONDS (not pasteurized)
2 or 3 Tbsp. presoaked BLACK WALNUTS
2 or 3 Tbsp. presoaked PECANS or MACADAMIAS
Put in the food processor with shredding blade and shred nuts with 1 peeled organic APPLE
Pour in a bowl and add 1 cup of organic BLUEBERRIES or PINEAPPLE
Eat for breakfast and if you are hungry shred more nuts.
Optional: add some dried figs or dates
STEAMED YUCCA WITH ALMOND MILK AND BAKED APPLE
Steam 1/2 Lb. frozen Yuca (Cassava)
Mash with 8 oz. (or more) original, unsweatened Almond Milk (without soy)
Eat with a steamed or baked Grany Smith apple
It is important to eat a healthy balance of proteins (nuts), fats (nuts), sugar (fruit, root vegetables). Try to spend 15 minutes chewing & eating your breakfast.
|
Breakfast YES but not any kind of breakfast!
... The problem with most American breakfasts is that they are a prescription for disaster and will only worsen your health. So, when preparing your breakfast, keep away from the following:
- Doughnuts
- Soy containing products
- Fruit Juice
- Waffles and pancakes
- Bagels and Toast (even whole grain organic types)
- ALL cereals (even whole grain organic types)
The confusing issue for many will likely be why whole grain breads and cereals are not recommended. While there are some people who can tolerate and even thrive on them, it is safe to assume that you are likely not one of them.
Grains rapidly break down to sugar in the body and stimulate insulin production.
So, if you:
- Are overweight
- Have high cholesterol
- Have high blood pressure
- Have diabetes
you will best be served by avoiding these foods.
It is important to recognize that you should also eat the pulp when juicing, as many valuable phytonutrients are in the pulp; it would be highly unwise to discard it.
Most people find breakfast is the best time to juice, but if for whatever reason you find that morning is not the best time for you then I would juice at either lunch or dinner. I don't believe it is necessary, or even wise, for most people to juice more than once a day.
Why Should I Juice Vegetables Rather Than Eat Them?
Good question. There are three main reasons why you will want to consider incorporating vegetable juicing into your health program:
1. Most of us have relatively compromised intestines as a result of less than optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you so you will receive most of the nutrition rather than having it go down the toilet bowl.
2. Vegetable juicing allows you to eat more vegetables than you would normally. By incorporating the juice into your eating plan you will easily be able to reach the one pound of raw vegetables per fifty pounds of body weight that you should eat every day.
3. If you eat the vegetables like a salad, you will be having far too many salads during the week. This will violate the rotation principle and increase your likelihood of developing an allergy to some of the vegetables.
If you don’t juice you can always have left over dinner for breakfast. While this is not the ideal option, it is far better than nearly all traditional breakfasts and certainly better for most than not eating anything.
Additionally, you could consider Ultimate Green Zone, a nutritional superfood that provides almost all of the necessary nutrients in a convenient powder form. Please understand that whole foods are best, but if you are not obtaining real, healthy foods, then Ultimate Green Zone might be a good choice for you.
|
