Among the most popular traditional breakfasts is no breakfast at all. Either because of time constraints or the desire to lose weight, at least 17 percent of Americans regularly skip the morning meal, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
"Eating a healthy breakfast fuels the muscles for physical activity and improves productivity. It actually increases the rate at which you burn calories. Skipping breakfast will leave you sluggish and will not help you control your weight," said Melanie Polk, RD, AICR's Director of Nutrition Education.
A series of convincing studies has shown that people who skip breakfast take in more calories later in the day than people who eat three evenly spaced meals. Other studies show that breakfast skippers tend to have higher blood cholesterol levels as well.
Just Do It
AICR's brochure called The New American Plate for Breakfast suggests a strawberry melon smoothie, or a small, whole-wheat and fruit muffin in place of no breakfast. The free brochure offers recipes for smoothies that can be whipped up quickly in the morning and healthy muffins that can be baked on the weekend and frozen for use during the week.
"Not eating breakfast misses the grade altogether," the brochure concludes. |
