Skip to main content

Is Your Breakfast Giving You The Benefits It Should?

This is a sponsored post for Quaker Oats and was first published on MyCity4Kids.com



Ah, breakfast – a meal that we enjoyed as children, tried to skip as adolescents, have practically no time for as adults; and yet, swear by, as parents!
Growing up we have all heard our parents insist that we have breakfast first thing in the morning if we have to be healthy; but it is only when we become parents ourselves that we actually understand the importance of it. It is only as a parent that we even begin to appreciate the benefits of not skipping breakfast in the morning! But of course, by then, our children have grown up and decided they aren’t interested in breakfast anymore.
The truth is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and has long term health benefits that are second to none. And among the many benefits of breakfast, the most important ones are –
  • Breakfast gives our brain and body, the fuel it needs to face the day.
  • Breakfast provides the essential nutrients to our body and helps restore glucose levels.
  • Breakfast helps improve concentration and memory; lowers stress levels and even improves our mood!
So what do we do? We insist that our children have their breakfast before they are off to start their day! We try our luck with the traditional breakfasts, only to find that it is difficult for the little ones to gobble up parathas or idlis (no matter how soft) first thing in the morning; especially if the school timings are really early.
So then we do the next best thing – we get breakfast cereals for them! Of course, ready to eat cold cereal works best for us too, especially on rushed mornings – no cooking needed, not even boiling milk – and as if that wasn’t enough, the packets say the cereals are made of whole grain! What more do we want? And as an added bonus, all we have to do, is get a few variants so that everyday our children eat a different flavour, making them just love their breakfast! Right?
Well, I was exactly of this opinion till a few days back. In fact, I believed that the cereals I was giving my little one were helping him stay full and satisfied till his snack break (which is a good two hours after he leaves home). But turns out, it’s not cereals but actually oats that can do the trick.
You see, I happened to read an article that mentioned a study published in the Journal of The American College of Nutrition which showed that it was breakfasting on oatmeal that gave people the feeling of fullness and lesser cravings for snacks for up to four more hours (compared to an oat-based cereal).
Not only that, but the article (and a bit of further reading up on the subject) revealed the following salient points in favour of oats, making oats, and not cereals; the best thing that a mother can give her family for breakfast –
  • Oats can ensure that your family gets fiber and nutrition for the body first thing in the morning.
  • Oats contain both soluble and insoluble fibres that can do wonders for our heart and colon.
  • The fiber contained in oats helps us feel full and satisfied.
  • Oats is the best gluten-free breakfast that is also packed with nutrients and minerals
  • Oats contain essential minerals for the body such as iron, selenium, manganese, magnesium, thiamin, zinc, iron, phosphorous and so on.
  • Oats reduces the risk of diseases; helps improve blood sugar and can lower cholesterol levels
  • Oats has nutrients and fibers that help in reducing the risk of several diseases like high BP and Type 2 Diabetes.
  • Oats also helps improve your blood sugar level and helps in reducing cholesterol, thereby helping in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases as well.
  • Oats may also be responsible in reducing the risk of childhood Asthama; and even skin irritation!
  • Early exposure (as early as infancy) to this miracle grain is known to reduce the risk of childhood Asthma in children.
  • Oats also acts as a soothing agent by helping alleviate itching or irritation of the skin.
  • Oats is basically known to enhance the immune response to disease.
  • Oats contains a unique fiber known as beta-glucan that helps eliminate infection causing bacteria from the body.
It’s a dream come true for any parent! A breakfast that helps build a sturdy immune system for their child!
But despite all these advantages, there is one thing that probably works in favour of cereals and against oats – cereals are tastier and easier on the palate! Because most cereals are packed with sugar and flavourings; and also come in interesting shapes – loops, moons, starts etc. – naturally, they are more appreciated, especially by children.
But I have found that oats too can be prepared differently every day by using fresh fruit, dry fruits, nuts etc. along with oats; or even spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg for seasoning; thereby giving you a different flavoured breakfast every morning! And as for the time constraints of a rushed morning; well, you could soak oats, flax seeds, nuts or fruit bits in milk overnight in your fridge to have a no-cook ready-to-eat breakfast in the morning!

So all-and-all, I have finally understood that with all its long term health benefits; it is definitely worth the time it takes to put together a serving of Quaker oats for my family in the morning.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Break In The Pattern

The train stops. She looks around. It is a big station, large and open, nothing like the big city railway stations that she has seen. This station is surrounded by lush greenery as far as the eye can see. There is a chill in the air. And a sense of belonging. She breathes it in, deeply.  She walks towards the end of the platform to the foot-overbridge that will take her out of the station. A few taxis and auto rickshaws are lined up near the exit, and she hires one at random. The driver helps her stow her one bag near her feet, while she sits to one side of the wide seat, as if she is sharing space with someone. Because she is used to taking up only so much space – always in a corner, trying not to make her presence felt. Now as she thinks this, she moves a little towards the centre of the seat, as if to affirm to herself that she is now travelling all by herself, for the first time in her life. You wouldn’t really know it now, to look at her, but she is scared out of h...

The Past That Binds...

The sound of the raindrops hitting the window panes in a quiet residential part of a small town is so different from that in a big city. That is the thought in her mind now, as she looks out of her kitchen window. The trees around her property are thick and dark as they stand drenched in the heavy downpour. It is the second day in a row that heavy rains continue to lash their area. She has heard in the morning on the radio that the rain will continue for a couple more days. It is good, she thinks, that she has just picked up her groceries, having moved in only a few days ago.       From the small gap in the trees, she can see across to the blue-walled house, just as she could see as a child. It is drenched too. The creepers outside its kitchen wall making a brave attempt at holding on through the heavy downpour. She can see its kitchen window clearly from here. How amazing, she thinks, how few things change over a period of time, although everything is chan...

Start Over

The light was too harsh. Even at 2 am, when the world slept outside, oblivious to everything going on around him, that was the one thing Rahul noticed.  White, stark, bright light – illuminating even the tiniest of corners. Much like the last time he had been waiting in this space. No, not this. A similar space. He had decided never to go back there. And he hadn’t. He was hoping that would change the outcome this time. That it would make it different from what had happened the last time. He was hoping, that changing the place would ensure that his fate changed too. Although, it wasn’t merely the place that was now different. The nurse coming out of the operation theatre, at a run, broke his reverie. Rahul stood up to ask her how things were, inside. But before he could even manage an ‘excuse me, sister,’ she had run past him in her hurry. Rahul swallowed the rising panic in his throat and held on to the back of a plastic chair for support. The chair was bolted to...