What You Should Eat For Breakfast
If you've read all the breakfast studies about how much smarter you're going to be after eating a good breakfast I'm sure you're achin' for some bacon. But you should you eat bacon? Is there an optimal time to eat breakfast? How much should you eat for breakfast This article addresses all those questions and more so you know what to put down your gullet and make others wonder why all of the sudden you became a morning person!
Who
Everyone should eat breakfast. What do animals do when they wake up and food is available? They eat. It's one of the things animals do best, but sadly humans are losing this talent. Our genetics haven't changed much over the past several thousand years, and cavemen didn't wake up and say "Mmmmmm, I need an empty stomach to get me goin' in the morning", so why are you?
What
Let me ask you this: when cavemen woke up in the morning did they yawn, stretch and say "Mmmmm, I need an enertube-sized round piece of lard and processed sugar with a hole in the middle and three brown, steamy cups of joe to juice me up like a mammoth barreling down the side of a mountain"? I doubt it. They probably ate various plants, roots, nuts, seeds, and possibly meat they had gathered. I've already answered the "What" to eat in a previous article, but here's the list again:
whole wheat bread, peanut butter, eggs, veggies, fresh fruit, milk, real juice, nuts, yogurt, honey, bran cereals, granola, oatmeal, and even meats like lean sausage and ham
Obviously this list isn't extensive but you get the point - everything here is minimally processed and occurs naturally. What happens when a mammoth barreling down the side of a mountain reaches the bottom? It crashes. And so will you if you don't eat real food. And rather than eating a lot of one thing, I'd eat a bit less of two or more things. That way you get a great balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fats. And ALL of them are important in maximizing your brain's potential. Certain foods will probably help you more than others, but not enough research has been done to figure out exactly what will help you the most. So do studies on yourself and figure out what works for you. Your brain's chemistry is different than anyone else's and will respond to foods differently.
Where
At your house, or at a restaurant that doesn't cook everything in grease or add tons of sugar or lard to their dishes. I would say these restaurants are few and far between though, so your best restaurant is usually your own kitchen.
When
You should eat breakfast within 45 minutes of waking up. If you wait longer than this, your body begins to go into that starvation mode I talked about earlier and your metabolism, including your brain, begins to slow down. Eating shortly after you wake up tells your body and brain that there are plenty of resources available so they don't have to be used sparingly. I usually wake up, take a shower, and then eat breakfast. This way my body has time to realize that it's awake (even if I haven't realized it yet), and gets fed soon thereafter. I used be about as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as a cat in a monsoon during the morning hours before I started eating real breakfasts, but now I usually feel like I could win best-in-show. But maybe that's because my mom tells me I'm handsome.
Why
If you've read my other articles about breakfast and glucose then you know exactly why you need to eat breakfast. If you haven't, then go back and read them!
How Much
This is another very important question that science doesn't have specific answers to. So I'm giving you an answer based on general trends from the studies I've read as well as personal experience. And after all the careful thought and weeks worth of meditating in the forest under a giant mushroom trying to answer this question, here's my profound conclusion:
ABOUT FOUR HANDFULS OF STUFF
For example, this morning I ate a cup of Cream of Wheat with raisins (1 handful), a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter (2 handfuls), one of those miniature oranges (3 handfuls), and a glass of mixed berry juice (4 handfuls). I figure it was about 500 calories worth of food. A big bowl of cereal is probably two or three handfuls. An omelet is probably two handfuls... If you're smaller than me, your handfuls will be smaller and you'll probably eat less. If you're bigger, your handfuls will be bigger and you'll eat more. Your lifestyle might be more or less intense than mine, in which case you'll probably want to change the number of handfuls. I'm thinking four handfuls won't cut it for a lumberjack, but is plenty for most desk jobs. There has been one study that showed too big of a breakfast can be counterproductive1, so you'll have to adapt to what works best for you!
- Tuttle et. al. Physiologic response to size and content of breakfast by men over 60. J. Abnorm. Child Psych. 29:34-40. 1953.