Vietnamese people have the habit of having breakfast with fried rice (leftover rice from the previous evening that is fried), or instant noodles, but in reality, these foods are harmful to health if consumed in the long term. So how to have a healthy and affordable breakfast without taking up too much time?
Experts recommend replacing them with the following foods:
Minced meat porridge
Minced meat porridge is a good food to have for breakfast. It provides just enough starch, contains protein, and the softness of the porridge makes it easy to eat and digest, which is beneficial for digestion.
Eggs
Having eggs for breakfast not only keeps you full for longer, reduces the calorie intake of the next meal, but also helps maintain stable blood sugar and insulin levels. In addition, egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that help prevent eye disorders such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Eggs are also one of the best sources of choline, a nutrient that is important for brain and liver health.
Although eggs have a high cholesterol content, they do not increase cholesterol levels in most people. In fact, eating eggs can reduce the risk of heart disease by adjusting the shape of LDL cholesterol, increasing HDL cholesterol, and improving insulin sensitivity. Moreover, three large eggs provide about 20 grams of high-quality protein.
Eggs are also very versatile and can be boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, etc.
Green vegetables
For those who want to lose weight, green vegetables are an essential food in every meal, including breakfast. Vegetables are rich in fiber, vitamins, and when you are trying to lose weight, eating vegetables helps you feel full quickly, with fewer calories, and helps the body digest and eliminate waste faster, avoiding the accumulation of excess energy.
Oatmeal with yogurt
In one package of yogurt, there are about 1.4 micrograms of vitamins and 60% of the necessary nutrients. Eating yogurt at any time is good. However, in the morning, the body absorbs the calcium in yogurt the best.
However, our stomach is usually in a hungry state in the morning. At that time, the stomach acid will neutralize most of the beneficial bacteria in yogurt. That is why experts recommend eating yogurt after eating a ripe banana or a few salty crackers or accompanying it with cereal.
For those who like a slightly Western-style breakfast, they can have cereal with yogurt, add a few slices of fruit for a delicious and fancy breakfast. If not used to eating like that, it is simpler to have yogurt with unsweetened milk, then add yogurt after your meal. Buying a bag of cereal once costs a few dozen, but eating a little bit each day is still worthwhile.
Sweet corn and corn milk
Sweet corn has a relatively high calorie content, but it is still much lower than vermicelli, pho, and rice, which is suitable for new moms who are on a diet. Having half an ear of corn and adding a small cup of corn milk is not a big deal. However, moms should only have corn twice a week, eating too much is good for fiber but it can also easily lead to uncontrolled weight gain.
In addition to the above foods, you can also have rice porridge, vermicelli, pho, milk, sweet potatoes, etc. which are diverse, nutritious, and delicious.
Some important notes to have a healthy breakfast
Eating cold food
In the morning, the muscles, nerves, and blood vessels of the body are in a contracted state, so if you eat cold food, it will make it difficult for the blood to circulate in the body. This condition, if prolonged, will cause discomfort in the digestive system and can even cause constipation, worsen skin condition, or even have phlegm in the throat… Instead, you should enjoy a hot porridge, bread, hot cereal, hot milk.
Having breakfast right after waking up
Many people have the habit of having breakfast as soon as they wake up. According to experts, having breakfast too early is not only not beneficial for the body but also affects the stomach.
Medical experts point out that after a long sleep, most of the organs in the body still retain a part of the evening meal. The digestive organs still need time to “process” and absorb the remaining food. If you have breakfast too early, the food will pile up and affect digestion.
If you wake up early, you should drink a glass of warm water to activate the digestive system and detoxify the body. Then wait about 20 to 30 minutes before having breakfast.
Having breakfast too late
Not only does it make you lose your appetite because you are no longer hungry, but it also prevents the body from absorbing the nutrients in the food, disrupting the body’s biological clock. You should have breakfast before 9 a.m.
Snacking instead of having breakfast
Do not use snacks like biscuits, chocolate… instead of having breakfast. Snacks will affect the digestion process of the body because in the morning, the body is always in a dehydrated state, while snacks are very dry. Snacks only provide temporary energy in a short period of time. Having breakfast with dry foods can lead to nutrient deficiencies as well as physical decline, creating conditions for the body to be susceptible to.
Eating too much meat
Many people think that if they don’t eat meat for breakfast, they will easily get hungry because it does not provide enough calories. However, according to experts, you should not eat too much meat or too much oil for breakfast. These types of foods are high in protein and fat, so they are not good for the stomach.