Choose your breakfast wisely

There is a saying “Eat breakfast like a king”. I believe in eating breakfast like a nutritionist. Breakfast literally means breaking your fast as your last meal being dinner, which is consumed a minimum of two hours before you sleep. So logically the first thing we put into our body after waking up and having water should provide us with the required nutrition for our body to function optimally.

Unfortunately, over the years processed foods, white sugar and white flour fried foods such as bondas, croissants, white bread, cookies, sugar-filled cereals, biscuits have popped up on our breakfast plates.

It is also necessary to know that the fastest way to lower your energy levels and increase weight is by skipping breakfast. Your breakfast should be a simple balance of carbs in form of vegetables, grains, fats and proteins. A big breakfast is good only when it can provide you with the right nourishment. So before you decide to pile up your plate, know what to have and what to not have as it can make or break your day.

Along with the chirping of the birds in the morning you usually hear the frying of bondas that are served with chutneys to hordes of customers. This fried dish might fill your stomach temporarily but will provide you with no nutrients at all. Have a pan-fried aloo tikki which is filled with cut vegetables instead of the bonda.

A staple of the South, mendu wada is fried lentils and for your stomach to break this down first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is an arduous task. Not to forget they are fried in trans-fat oil which adds to its unhealthy quotient. As an alternative choose idlis as they are steamed, made of easily digestible rice flour and the sambhar will give your required vegetables.

It is said a waffle is just a pancake with abs, however, neither of the two will help you get flat abs and are normally made from white flour topped with sickly sweet additions like maple syrup, whipped cream, chocolate syrup only pile on the calories. Instead opt for a batter made from oat and whole grains and top it up with slices of fresh seasonal vegetables.

During fasting days we tend to opt for sabudana vada as breakfast. Even though this food is meant to detox you, it is the unhealthiest fasting food. Try to have it in the form of sabudana khichdi instead with fresh green chutney instead of ketchup.

Your simple white bread with butter might be a quick-fix breakfast dish world over but it has zero nutritional value. Opt for an open sandwich which is multigrain bread topped up with chutney and vegetables.

The easiest dish to prepare for breakfast is puri bhajji made of chunks of boiled potato and the puris, which are fried. Replace this with parathas made of ragi, jowar or bajra; stuffed with vegetables and eat it with raita.

Another standard breakfast option we see on the streets is kheema sandwich. The mutton and white bread is a health hazard. Opt for a lighter meal like a bread omelette which is filled with vegetables and whole grain bread.

Your daily chai is the perfect way to start your day. However, we always tend to do chai with a sweet biscuit which is simply white flour and white sugar. Substitute this with either a whole grain savoury biscuit or rusk toast. Kick start the day with a nutritious meal and reap the benefits whole day long.