Don´t skip breakfast

Several studies over time have shown that always having breakfast is beneficial to health. In January 2017, an American Heart Association survey found that people who do are less likely to have heart disease and higher cholesterol and blood pressure.

Later that year, research by researchers at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that skipping this meal, while helping to burn calories, can increase the risk of inflammation when eating. makes it a habit.

The team looked at 17 healthy adults and found that glucose concentrations, insulin resistance and inflammation markers were higher after lunch on the days when participants did not have breakfast, leaving them more vulnerable to blood pressure problems. obesity and type 2 diabetes.

But there are even more reasons not to skip this meal. Breakfast is as important as every meal, but being the first of the day, it is the one that restores the energy and nutrients needed for the new day after several hours without eating and is therefore essential.

"Having breakfast avoids starting the day with low energy and nutrient reserves and having symptoms such as aggression, poor patience, headache and general malaise," explains Ana Bravo, a nutritionist at the Saudarte clinic in Porto. In addition, this meal will help improve physical and intellectual performance while avoiding a lack of concentration.

The important thing is to try to make a meal as complete and balanced as possible, says Ana Bravo. For the nutritionist, an ideal breakfast should include a dairy, bread or whole grains (carbohydrate source) and a fruit - it should vary as much as possible, not always eating the same fruits. In addition to dairy products, you can also choose eggs, lean meats, legumes or nuts as a protein source. "When we are at home, we can and should vary," she explains.

For those who are lactose intolerant or do not like milk, it is important to look for, from the Food Wheel, others that have a similar nutritional composition. Those who like milk and are intolerant have at their disposal various types of vegetable drinks, but the nutritionist warns that these drinks do not replace milk or any other dairy product as they have a different nutritional composition and many contain high sugar content.

Regarding cheese, it is important to choose those with reduced fat content, lean and semi-fat. And if breakfast includes yogurt, non-creamy and unsweetened ones should be chosen. So that you do not feel the need to add sugar to natural yoghurt, Ana Bravo advises the use of cinnamon, which has calcium and iron and helps in glycemic control. Yogurt explains the nutritionist, has greater digestibility than milk, making it a better option.

"We must not forget, too, that yogurt has a probiotic effect, that is, its live bacteria colonize the intestine, which has several benefits in gastrointestinal and immune health," she explains.

To mix with yogurt, industrialized breakfast cereals, even whole grains, should be avoided because they contain too much sugar but also an abusive amount of salt. Whole grain oats are healthier as they contain fiber and beta-glucans, which help lower cholesterol levels. Hazelnuts and almonds with skin are also good options, and walnuts, but in more limited amounts as they have more fat.

It's important to eat well and it all starts early in the morning! Please, make good choices!