Do you spend a lot of time reminding your kids or yourself to have a decent breakfast and pack a healthy lunch to get through the afternoon? At my house we mention one of the two almost every day. Breakfast is the meal where it’s easiest to fall back on processed food because people are in a hurry, so only real food choices can be in the house. Two more reasons to not buy processed breakfast foods and experiment to get in the habit of a real breakfast are reducing stress for yourself, and improving behavior in your kids.
There’s a popular study of school children in England where children were given artificial colors and/or a sodium benzoate preservative and then evaluated by their teachers and parents along with 8 and 9-year-olds receiving a computerized attention test.[1] The artificial colors and preservatives, which you’ll find in children’s breakfast cereals, were proven to increase hyperactivity.
Dr. David Ludwig, Director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Boston Children’s Hospital, compared boys eating highly refined instant oatmeal (high glycemic index), with those eating regular high-fiber, steel-cut oats, or eggs (very low glycemic index) all equal in calories.[2] When blood sugar crashed in the boys eating the processed oatmeal breakfast, they released a high level of stress hormone and showed metabolic changes that promote excessive food intake. In the five hours following the breakfast with a high glycemic index, these chemical reactions promote excessive food intake.
The worst processed breakfast foods include highly refined cereals (including instant oatmeal), pancakes, waffles, breakfast pastries and bars, bagels, muffins, etc. The best breakfasts have fruit, yogurt, eggs, and steel-cut oats, along with other homemade breakfasts. I never thought I liked oatmeal because I only had the instant oatmeal a few times growing up and gave up on it. Recently I bought steel cut oats for Tony and decided to try it. We put a couple of spoons of nut butter and bananas on it and it was really good. I’m going to try it other ways now. Different toppings you can use are coconut shreds, slivered almonds or other nuts, dried or fresh fruit, cream, dates or figs, etc. You can drizzle a little syrup or honey over it, or cocoa nibs if you need a little push of sweetness at first. If you don’t have time in the morning, cook the oats before bed.
Oats are high in tryptophan and selenium, manganese, and many other nutrients. There are a lot of studies referring to the benefits of whole grains for cardiovascular health, diabetes, and breast cancer. But the nutrients in oats are also good for the brain health including mood and cognitive benefits. What we eat influences emotional and mental well-being just like it affects more obvious, physical health issues.
As I was typing this, I watched a few minutes of this odd show on TV about someone who weighs over 600 pounds. A doctor sent a nutritionist to his house and when she showed him some of the ingredients in the foods in his refrigerator, he said, “I had no idea that most of what I eat is unhealthy.” Real food is not obvious to some people, so it’s motivating to keep exploring and discussing it, and assisting in any way possible to connect people to it.
I hope you had a beautiful Earth Day!
[1] “Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial,” McCann et al, The Lancet, November 2007, pgs 1560–1567.
[2] “High glycemic index foods, overeating, and obesity,” Pediatrics, March 1999.
