Breakfast: Is it over-rated?

If you watched any of the news last week, you might have heard about a study that is questioning whether there is science to back up the tout that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For years, we have recommended eating breakfast for various reasons including weight control. This most recent study suggests that skipping breakfast can help with weight loss compared to those that ate a cereal breakfast. There needs to be more research done before I am going to start recommending that we all hit the snooze button and skip breakfast.

For one thing, breakfast gives us another opportunity to get some good nutrition in. Most Americans don’t get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in so the last thing that I want to do is give you fewer meals and snacks to reach those goals. Secondly, breakfast sets the pace for the day mentally with food. Chances are that if you are taking the time to prepare breakfast at home, then you will be putting some thought about food for the day and more likely to pack some healthy snacks or prepare a bagged lunch for the day.

With the kids going back to school, this is a great opportunity to get you and kids back into the routine of starting your day off with an awesome breakfast. Here are some great ideas that include either a serving of fruit or vegetable:

Oatmeal (watch the sugar content on the instant ones) topped with either fresh fruit like strawberries or blueberries or a dried fruit like raisins or craisins.
Scrambled eggs with spinach, chopped tomatoes, peppers or onions added to them.
Whole grain English muffin with either almond or peanut butter and a sliced banana on top.
Smoothie made with yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, and a small handful of spinach or kale.
Make a bread using whole-wheat flour and add grated carrots or zucchini to it.
Make a yogurt parfait with low-fat yogurt and layered fresh berries.

Let’s start this school year off right by preparing a healthy breakfast at home!

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