Egg-cellent ideas on how to get the most out of your breakfast
1st Jan 2015 Health Conditions
The perfect day always starts with a good breakfast. Here's how to get the most out of the most important meal of the day, and give yourself energy till lunchtime and beyond.
Why breakfast is the most important meal of the day
For starters, you’ve spent all night fasting and you’ve now got a busy day ahead, so you need energy. Think of breakfast as fuel—it doesn’t make sense to start the day on empty.
Not only that, but there’s a strong link between diet and emotional health.
A healthy breakfast provides nourishment for the brain and nervous system. Eat well early in the day and you’ll feel better for the rest of it.
Read more: 5 healthy and tasty breakfast recipes
Best foods to start the day
Porridge is full of fibre and low in saturated fat and cholesterol, while fresh fruit and low-fat yogurt give you calcium, protein and at least one of your five a day—but eggs are hard to beat.
Eggs are high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and they’re only 70 calories a pop. They contain vitamins A, D, E and B12, while on the mineral front you’ll get iron, folate, selenium and choline.
This scramble of nutrients helps you maintain healthy skin, bones, and teeth, and may even protect against some cancers, heart disease and autoimmune disease (where the body turns on itself in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis).
Read more: How to make the perfect breakfast in bed
Smashing the cholesterol myth
But aren’t eggs full of cholesterol, ready to fur up our arteries? Apparently not. That claim was later contradicted by a review of research.
This found that eggs caused a small but clinically insignificant rise in blood cholesterol. So there’s no need to restrict your consumption. In fact, the saturated fats found in red meat and butter are much more likely than eggs to increase your cholesterol.
Read more: What you need to know about cholesterol
The pros and cons of the great British breakfast
The healthiest way to eat eggs is poached, boiled or scrambled (though go easy on the butter with the latter option), and of course we’ve nothing against nutrient-stuffed tomatoes or baked beans (low in fat and high in protein and fibre), but you might want to keep sausages and bacon as an occasional treat.
Not only are they brimful of saturated fats, but processed meats have also been flagged as a risk factor for bowel cancer.
Read more: How to cook a healthy full English
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more health advice
Enjoyed this story? Share it!
