What ’ s a healthy breakfast?

If you asked someone to list some typical regular weekday morning breakfast foods, they’d probably rattle off things like cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, pancakes, waffles, and maybe eggs and bacon. But here’s the deal. Breakfast is how we break our overnight fast, and for many people, breaking fast doesn’t have to happen first thing in the morning. That’s right, folks: breakfast does NOT have to happen first thing in the morning. If you are not hungry when you wake up, that is normal, and you do not need to eat. That old myth about “revving up your metabolism” with food first thing was largely created by breakfast cereal manufacturers. Overnight fasting: Good for weight control and easy to do Evidence is growing in support of fasting for weight control, weight loss, and better metabolic health. An overnight fast could look like this: You stop eating before nightfall, somewhere between 5 and 8 pm. (It’s a good idea to avoid eating anything in the two to three hours before sleep anyways.) Then, you do not eat until 16 hours later, somewhere between 9 am and 12 pm. Only liquids, like water, coffee and tea without sweeteners, seltzer, and even broth are allowed during the fast. You’ve now completed a 16-hour fast, and you slept through most of it! Your meals occur only during an eight-hour period of the day, and you make these healthy meals, with lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, legumes, and whole grains. This type of overnight fasting i...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Diabetes Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs