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07/27/2010
 Healthy Children forLife - Breakfast:
Setting Your Child Up for Success
By Linda Miner RNC, CHN, CMTA
www.MyHealthyBalance.com
Imagine building a housewithout a foundation. It may stay standing for awhile, buteventually it will start to shift and crack and eventuallycollapse. Starting the day with a healthy breakfast should beconsidered as important to your body as a solid foundation is to ahouse. The word breakfast literally means "breaking thefast". After you stop eating in the evening, there is usuallyabout 12 hours until you rise and eat again. Although it isimportant for your body to rest during the night, it is extremelyimportant to begin nourishing your body once you awaken. As soonas you eat, your metabolism revs up. The internal organs,including the brain, can perform their respective functions and youhave energy to begin your day. On the contrary, if you don't eat,your metabolism is not activated and the body starts to go intostarvation mode. The human body has a natural instinct topreserve itself and basic functions begin to slow down as the bodyresponds to a lack of nutrients. By not consuming breakfast, youstress your internal organs, you have trouble concentrating becausethere is no energy for your brain, and you create a body that isdestined to be obese as it learns to hold onto fat due to thisperceived famine. Therefore, eating a healthy breakfast is anextremely important habit to teach your children. So what are thebest choices for breakfast?
Start with Fruit: A great habitto instill in your children is to have fresh, whole fruit to start theday. Fruit gives you tons of energy, it's full of nutrients andenzymes for digestion and most varieties have a good amount offibre.
High Quality Carbohydrates: Itis very important at every meal to have carbohydrates andprotein. Let's start with the carbs. When it comes tobread, insist on multigrain. White bread should be considered a"treat" just like candy. My youngest daughter likes when I make"Mamp;Ms". No, not the chocolate kind. I toast up somesprouted multigrain bread. Then after buttering it, I sprinkle alittle cinnamon and evaporated cane juice (i.e. real sugar) ontop. Cinnamon is a great blood sugar stabilizer and powerfulantioxidant. Then I cut the bread into the letter "M", the firstletter of her name. Somehow this makes it taste much moredelicious.
Be Cautious with Cereals: Manypeople ask me about breakfast cereals and instant oatmeal. I amnot a fan because most are loaded with sugar, are low in protein andfibre and spike blood sugar levels. Check the glycemic index (GI)and you will see that many cereals have a higher GI and spike bloodsugar more than white sugar (http://www.glycemicindex.ca/glycemicindexfoods.pdf). You generally want to eat foods with a glycemic index rating of lessthan 55. Do not be fooled by advertising that says "wholegrain". That still usually just means one grain NOTmultigrain. You want to purchase cereals that have more than onegrain. Nature's Path (http://www.naturespath.com),Kashi (http://www.kashi.com)and Bob's Red Mill (http://www.bobsredmill.com)brands have some excellent cereals, but make sure you check thenutrition label. Look for at least 4g of protein and 3g offibre.
High Quality Protein: Next, Iwould recommend a good source of protein. Plain, low fat yogurtis great because it is loaded with protein, is an excellent source ofcalcium, has lots of good bacteria for the intestines and is easy toadd flavour to. Stir in the aforementioned fruit, some honey ormaple syrup, some chopped up nuts and a high quality granola and youhave a very satisfying breakfast. Or make a smoothie with thefruit and yogurt. In my experience, if you give them straws, kidsare more likely to drink it. It's all about making it fun. Stay away from presweetened yogurts that are loaded with sugar. One of my daughters' favorite breakfasts is what we call "string cheeseegg". I pour egg whites into a fry pan and the girls "string" thepart-skimmed mozzarella cheese over the top. I serve it rolled upand they love it. What a great blast of protein
By starting the day right, your kids will be ready to perform theirbest in school, in sports and in life.
Linda Miner is a RegisteredNutritionist specializing in Metabolic Typing. Linda works with clientsonline to help them restore their health by re-establishing balance inthe body. Through one-on-one coaching and an individualized food planbased on your unique characteristics, Linda can help you achieveOptimal Health. Learn more at www.iChange.com and www.MyHealthyBalance.com. Permissiongranted foruse onDrLaura.com
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