People are getting health conscious and choose healthy options for breakfast, and most common healthy breakfast chosen is oats or cornflakes with honey and some fruits. So is it really healthy Let’s check!
Let’s take an example of an average person’s idea of a healthy breakfast. One cup of oats cooked in milk, with a little honey on the side, and a fruit. Sounds ‘healthy’?
Now let’s grab the packet and check out the nutritional information label. What do you see? One serving (40-50 gm) contains 35gm carbs (out of which 10-12 gms is plain sugar) , 4-5 gm protein, and 2-3 gm of fats. Add to it sugar and carbs from the extra fruits and honey on the side, and here’s you’re your breakfast macros look like: 65-70 gm carbohydrates (30gm sugars), 6-7 gm protein, and 4-5 gm fats.
So you basically just had 7-8 tbsp of sugars in your breakfast!
And finally we give up saying I can’t get toned.
Now what happens when you have carbs for breakfast?
When you wake up, your insulin levels are down. When you add carbs to your breakfast, that causes the insulin to spike in order to regulate the sugar in the bloodstream. This causes the inhibition of HSL production in the body. (HSL – hormone sensitive lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fat) Basically, more carb intake, less fat burning.
Simultaneous with the insulin action, we may consider the action of Cortisol, which is essentially a hormone that has an effect opposite of Insulin. Cortisol, or the stress hormone, is very high when we wake up, and by nature, Cortisol tends to put the body into a fat-burning mode. Now, by having a carb-high breakfast, the Insulin levels increase, causing Cortisol levels to fall. And lower cortisol means effectively lowering the ‘fat-burning’ environment inside the body. Instead, combined with the suppression of HSL production, the body actually gets into a ‘fat-storing’ mode that jeopardizes any attempt at fat loss.
So what is the best breakfast then?
So if the common myth of the ‘healthy oats and cornflakes’ breakfast has now been cleared, the big question that waits is, what should you eat for breakfast? The answer is, undoubtedly, fats and protein. Yes, food rich in fats and protein are the way to go, especially since they don’t raise insulin levels in the body.
Some examples of such foods are – almonds, walnuts, eggs, paneer, cheese, meat, and dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, lettuce, methi).
GAURAV DUGAR
ISSA CERTIFIED FITNESS TRAINER
www.issacertifiedtrainer.com/gauravdugar
9852031357
REF: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
www.Fitmag.in
