How many have we heard the lines - eat your breakfast, eat a healthy breakfast, do not skip breakfast, have breakfast like a king and such similar lines. And how many times have we secretly grumbled on hearing these words being directed at us!
This is actually one of those health rules that many of us are so very aware of. We have read and read many articles on it. And yet we find ourselves stepping out for work after having gulped down just a glass of orange juice or simply a toast and a cup of tea. No wonder that within a few hours we are down to our last bit of energy and enthusiasm to get through the day. A colleague or boss or a friend or some family member then becomes your target to whom you direct all your frustrations. Such negative emotions being highly contagious will be reflected in the target`s interactions with the next person met! The cycle continues. What you thought would be a fruitful day is not going as planned and you end up blaming situations and people around you for this.
Go back in time a few hours, to the time between you waking up and leaving the house. Missing something there right? Yes, you have not given sufficient fuel to your body to function actively throughout the day. And how could you have been so thoughtless as forcing your body to rush through the day`s schedule without sufficient fuel. Your car would not agree to run without fuel.
How important it is to give fuel to our body each morning?
Very, very important. Our brain sends messages to different parts of our body to get it to work well and normally. Glucose (blood sugar) is required to activate the brain after long hours of fasting overnight when blood sugar levels come down. To bring blood sugar to certain required level, a breakfast comprising good dose of vitamins, complex carbohydrates, proteins is very important.
Depriving your body of these necessities in the form of breakfast will make you feel tired, irritable, weak, dizzy throughout the day. Poor concentration is also another result of insufficient supply of fuel to your body. You are slower in carrying out day`s tasks.
Does eating breakfast make you gain extra calories?
NO. Throw away this kind of thought, if any. If anything, it will only make you gain extra calories if you skip breakfast!
One, you will find yourself reaching out for junk, unhealthy food or sweets to satisfy those hunger pangs. Skipping breakfast ultimately makes you vulnerable to overeating at some point of the day. Body accumulates more weight from eating fewer & larger meals than same amount of calories consumed by smaller but more frequent meals.
Also, by skipping breakfast regularly you are unknowingly sending a message to your body that there will not be proper & regular supply of required calories and so the next time you eat a meal, the calories are stored by the body in form of fat, thereby making you gain extra weight.
Some healthy breakfast options
- For breakfast, consume nutritious, energy giving food like -
- Fresh fruits consumed before your breakfast
- Eggs, as they contain protein, calcium
- Calcium containing food like milk, eggs,
- Dry fruits like almonds, raisins, dates, dried amla, walnuts and prunes.
- Muffins made of whole wheat, oat
- Dishes made from whole grains - like - wheat, maize, oat
- Protein rich food - click here for sources and info
- Sources of vitamins - click here for sources and info
Some breakfast dish options are -
- whole wheat bread with eggs
- aloo (potato) parathas or any other vegetable stuffed parathas, chapathis with bananas
- idlis from rice- urad or oats or rava (semolina) or ragi etc
- dosas, adai dosa, pesrattu, uttappams (dosas topped with vegetables), cheese dosa (dosas with cheese topping added just before removing from pan or immediately after), onion dosa, ragi dosa, wheat flour dosa, rava (semolina) dosa etc
- upma (dish made from semolina) to which vegetables may be added
-Fresh fruit juices or smoothies made from fruits, yogurt and sweetened with honey are good options for a power packed drink. Have this at the start with toast and eggs.
What to avoid or discard as a 'healthy' breakfast option
Too sugary or too fatty foods. Avoid too much processed or packaged choices high on sugar, fats, preservatives.
Avoid choices made from refined, non whole grain - maida/ white flour, white bread, white rice.
Never have desserts for breakfast. Though it will lead to sudden increase in blood sugar levels,it will lead to fall in blood sugar levels later on in the day and then you are tempted to eat even more!
On days we have Potato dosa for breakfast, I cannot help it but be extra excited than other days to sit down to enjoy them. Try them out for yourselves to see why.
And just to tempt you too, these are so soft and tasty with a hint of aroma from coriander and asafoetida. The chillies added do not make it spicy and are so very moreish!
Ingredients
Makes – 9 dosas (approx)
- Pav–traditional measure,1 pav = approx 1½ cups
- Rice – 1 pav (dosa rice/ short grained)
- Potato – 4, medium size ones
- Coriander seeds – 2 tsp
- Dry red chillies – 3, long, mild variety (like byadgi)
- Asafoetida/ hing – a pinch
- Salt – to taste
- Oil/ ghee – to roast dosas
Method
- Boil potaoes.
- Soak rice for 2 hours. Drain and wash well. Grind it with remaining ingredients (except potato) to a smooth batter.
- Peel boiled potatoes, mash or crumble with hands and add it to the batter in the end. Grind once again till smooth and fine.
- Remove onto a vessel. Ferment overnight.
- Add salt just before making dosas (see notes).
- To make dosas the next morning, heat a dosa pan/non stick pan. Pour ladle batter onto hot pan and spread quickly in circular motions with the back of the ladle. Drizzle oil/ ghee around the sides. When underside is brown and cooked, flip and cook the other side.
- Remove and serve hot with dollops of fresh homemade white butter.
And I am sure you will be active and energetic all day long!
Note
Salt is added just before making dosas as it can make the batter too sour if added too early. But if you are staying in cooler places where fermenting batter is not easy, add salt after grinding batter and let ferment overnight.
Posted by Prathima Rao
Food , Health
