Sugar

Sugar attracts many people. That is the reason why many ready to eat foods contain sugar or equivalents. But as saying goes, any thing more than moderate amount is poison and same is applicable to sweets. In the case of sugar, the less you eat more healthy you will be. Eating sugar can make you sick in any or all of the following.

• Eating more sugar first makes a person think of Diabetes. It is a disease that causes the body to metabolize sugar poorly.
• Obesity is the second prominent thing that can be linked with Sugars. Unhealthy food is that which is high in sugars and low in vitamins and minerals.
• Most outstanding health hazard associated with the consumption of sugar is Tooth decay. Oral bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans live in dental plaque and metabolize sugars into lactic acid. Elevated amounts of acid may result in tooth demineralization.

You might be thinking of artificial sugars that have become very popular these days. But those will contain aspartame which is more dangerous than Sugar. I will write another blog to discuss about aspartame but till then remember that aspartame is enemy of your health.

Sugar can be replaced with other natural sweetners like honey, Blackstrap molasses or Maple Syrup. That not only make you feel good with sweets but also leave you healthy. By the way for infants less than one year you should not feed honey.

Breakfast

Breakfast is first meal of the day. Body is on fast for 8 to 10 hours and as the name suggests, we are breaking the fast with breakfast. By the time you wake up, body craves for fuel.

You might think you can work without eating anything in the morning, but that is like driving car with fuel less than 1/4th of tank. Car might run but it gives less mileage and reduces life. Same is applicable to our body. Even though you are working, that work is not efficient and you might not be able to enjoy the job.

Following are two best things to remember

• Do NOT skip the breakfast.
• Eat heavy and healthy breakfast.

Healthy breakfast should accommodate protein, fiber and iron. For protein try adding lean meats, beans, eggs and dairy. For fiber, add fruits and vegetables. For iron try tomato juice and whole grains. Commendable breakfast idea could be to have bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk, scrambled/hard boiled egg and an orange.

Other ideas include

• Sandwich with whole wheat multi grain bread, cup of flavored yogurt and tomato juice
• Fruit salad and bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk
• Bean taco, an orange and cup of low fat chocolate milk

You can add your choices or regroup the above to break the routine. What ever you do, do not skip the breakfast. Skipping breakfast affects not only body but also mind.

How body is affected by not having regular meals?

If body does not get the food in the regular intervals, it thinks that there is problem in getting food and it stores some for future, every time you eat. That storage will be in the form of fat, which increases BMI and eventually the body weight.

Okay, that is if I don't eat in regular intervals. What if I skip breakfast every day and make that regular?

You are genius ! But skipping breakfast, as we discussed before, will increase craving for food and you will end up eating more food at a time. Also, that food includes sugars as your body will long for sugars when you are really hungry. If your taste buds are not allowing eating heavy in the morning, you can divide and enjoy. For example, take in sandwich with tomato juice early in the morning and snack on yogurt an hour later.

Now, how do skipping breakfast effects mind?

Brain is the part which sends signals that you are hungry. When you neglect that signal and keep doing other a task, part of brain is still occupied on what body can get to make it feel better and is waiting for food. So, only part of the brain will be used to for other tasks. Brain might be able to give information on what was already known but it will have hard time understanding new concepts.

Another point is, eating heavy breakfast will make you eat less for lunch and you can try to eat light for dinner. If you see the order, by the time you go to bed, you would have digested most of the food and would have used that energy efficiently. So you can sleep without getting tensed about gaining weight.

So have your breakfast, work better and live healthy :-)