KHFP Week Two: Eat a Hearty Healthy Breakfast

Week two is all about starting your day off in a healthful energized way. You will eat a power breakfast made up of complex carbohydrates, in other words, fiber. Fiber essentially adds volume in your stomach but without all the harmful fat and excess calories. You want to stick to whole grain complex carbs like oats, brown rice, whole wheat, millet, barley, etc. The goal is to stay away from white breads, boxed cereals or any processed or refined flours. Also, you want to reduce or eliminate the traditional bacon and eggs breakfast over the course of the next six months.

If you are like most people my age (over 40), who is not familiar with whole grains, then it might be difficult for you to know what a whole grain is, let alone what it looks like. I’m ashamed to admit that the only whole grains I’m familiar with is wheat and corn. But, after doing some checking around, there are many other whole grains that actually have way more flavor than regular white bread or wheat bread. “If your palate, like many, has been seduced by processing, you may need to be eased into the stronger taste and more robust texture of whole grains”. (Finlayson, pg. 9)

My initial research led me to The Whole Grains Council (WGC), WebMD and “The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook” by Judith Finayson to find out more about using whole grains for breakfast. But, don’t be misled, whole grains is not just for breakfast. During Kandie’s Health and Fitness Project more whole grain options will be introduced into lunch, dinner and even snacks.

“So, What are whole grains? Whole grains are the seeds of certain plants. The inedible outermost layer (husk) of the grain is removed, leaving the resulting “berry” or “grout”. They differ from grains that are not whole (refined) because they contain all three parts of the grain: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. During the milling process, the bran and the germ, which contain valuable nutrients, are removed, leaving just the endosperm.” (Finlayson, pg. 10)

The Whole Grains Council’s official definition of whole grains and a list and description of the most common whole grains can be found at: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/definition-of-whole-grains


The benefits associated with eating more whole grains are abundant. The main benefits of consuming whole grains as determined by WGC are as follows:

• stroke risk reduced 30-36%
• type 2 diabetes risk reduced 21-30%
• heart disease risk reduced 25-28%
• better weight maintenance
• reduced risk of asthma
• healthier carotid arteries
• reduction of inflammatory disease risk
• lower risk of colorectal cancer
• healthier blood pressure levels
• less gum disease and tooth loss

The main benefits for choosing whole grains for breakfast for this project is that they create volume, you fill fuller longer, more nutrient dense, take longer to chew, sustained energy and weight maintenance. These whole grains create roughage, thereby pushing undigested food out your system naturally. In other words, whole grains make you go to the bathroom (#2) more regularly. This is important for helping you on the road to losing weight and being healthier.

The project is divided into three levels for food and exercise. In order to make your transition to eating whole grains a little easier and more beneficial, there are some guidelines you should follow. No matter what level you are on whether it is beginner, intermediate or advanced, pork is not an option. Not eating pork has nothing to do with religion per se, but because of the overwhelming evidence found that associates pork with many diseases and health problems. I encourage you to find out more about the dangers of eating pork and how it keeps you sick.

Guidelines for eating more whole grains for breakfast:

Beginner:  chose turkey bacon, turkey link/patties, limit eggs, chose whole grain pancakes/waffles, ease up on the syrup, chose low fat yogurts/cream cheese/muffins/milk
Intermediate: limit meat/eggs, use honey/maple syrup, chose whole grain pancakes/waffles/muffins, limit dairy intake, chose certified organic products, chose milk alternative(soy, rice, almond, goat)
Advanced: this is the no meat level(vegetarian/vegans), limit or eliminate dairy, chose certified organic/certified vegan or vegetarian, abide by vegan/vegetarian guidelines, chose milk alternative(soy, rice, almond, etc)

So, what can you eat for breakfast?

• Toast topped with nut butter and ground flax seeds, some fruit on the side
• Healthy oatmeal, brown rice, or quinoa packed with fruit/nuts
• Power Fruit Smoothies
• Super Green Juices
• Protein Shakes
• Beans, lentils, veggie sausage, tofu, tempeh, seitan
• Turkey bacon, links, sausages, patties
• Super fruit salads sprinkled with Chia Seeds, flaxseed, sesame seeds, nuts
• Whole Grain pancakes/waffles made with rice flour, buckwheat, millet flour etc.
• Mexican Egg English Muffin (half muffin topped with eggs, cheese, green onion)
• Whole grain bagels, English Muffins, bran muffins, whole grain fruit muffins etc..
• Whole grain cereals, homemade granola/energy bars
• What you can add to make your breakfast jam packed:
• Cinnamon Ground Flax seeds Flax seed oil
• Chia Seeds Blueberries Goji berries
• Protein Powder Sweet potatoes Honey/Agave Nectar
• Fruits Walnuts/almonds Sunflower/Sesame seeds

We will later discuss super foods and power foods to help fuel your day even more. These are just a few options to help get you started on the right track because the choices are unlimited. Hopefully, by making more healthier choices to help fill you up longer you won’t feel deprived but more energized.
You may be tempted to skip breakfast, but research has shown that skipping breakfast is counterproductive. This is what they say on WebMD about one of the biggest diet mistakes that most people make.


Skipping Breakfast
Skipping breakfast seems like a simple way to cut calories, but the result can be insatiable hunger the rest of the day. This may lead to unplanned snacking at the office and eating a super-size portion at lunch, making calorie counts soar. But breakfasts that are high in protein and fiber can reduce hunger throughout the day. In fact, studies show people who eat breakfast every morning are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-diet-mistakes

Here is a basic power breakfast:

• 2 cups brown rice, cooked and cooled
• Chop up some apples or dried fruit (apricots)
• Chop up some walnuts, almonds or pecans
• Sprinkle on some cinnamon
• Pour heated unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy/almond/rice) over rice and drizzle on honey/agave/maple syrup
• Mix and enjoy

Breakfast Rice Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups vanilla flavored enriched rice milk
• 1 cup long or short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries
• Raw cane sugar, honey or maple syrup (optional)
• Chopped toasted nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. In large saucepan over medium heat, bring rice milk to a boil
2. Gradually stir in rice and cherries and return to a boil
3. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 50 minutes
4. Stir well, and serve with favorite sweetener and toasted nuts

Other whole grain recipes:

Oatmeal Fruit Smoothie
Ginger-Pear Oat Smoothie 
Multigrain Energy Bars 
Coconut Almond Granola Bars
Popped Amaranth Crunch
Sesame Millet Crackers
Art’s High-Powered Snack Mix
Banana Bran Muffins
Crunchy Granola Wedges
Apricot-Walnut Cereal Bars
Almond-Honey Power Bar
Maple-Nut Granola

　
Assignment #1

In order for you to become more familiar to what constitutes a whole grain, you must explore The Whole Grains Council’s Whole Grain 101 section. It has some very good detailed information about whole grains from A-Z. From here you can better identify which whole grains you might like or want to try, plus information on its’ health benefits. So, for this week chose at least three different whole grains you are gonna incorporate into your breakfast.

Assignment #2

You need to be able to quickly identify whether a product contains whole grains or not by scanning the package itself as well as the ingredient list. You should look for the whole grain health claim on food product labels. The label reads: “Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers”. A food bearing this label must contain 51% or more whole grains by weight. ((Finlayson, pg. 12) You should visually be able to see on the product package the green whole grain logo. Your assignment this week is to actively search for this label or read the ingredients list. In the listed ingredients, the first item is the most ingredient used and whole grain should be listed first or in the top five. To find out more about labeling requirements pertaining to whole grains, please visit the Food and Drug Administration’s website.


Here is your checklist for this week:
Continue to drink your eight glasses of water
Start to eat a hearty healthy breakfast

References

“The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook” by Judith Finayson
The Whole Grains Council: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/recipeshttp://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/definition-of-whole-grainsWebMD: http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-diet-mistakes
FDA: Food Labeling and Nutrition 
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm059088.htm