What’s the Best Thing to Eat for Breakfast?
Breakfast isn’t the magical meal it’s billed to be. But it’s your first opportunity to refill the fuel stores after your body’s overnight fast, so choose energizing foods.
Most people around the world eat in the morning before they set out for their day. How much we eat varies by culture and cuisine—a cup of instant noodles is a popular grab-and-go food with East Asian commuters, while a croissant or pastry with a cup of coffee is the morning sustenance enjoyed in many European countries.
There are no golden rules for a perfect breakfast, but across cultures, most breakfasts are made up mainly of unrefined carbohydrates, such as brown bread or rice, whole grains, and vegetables, all of which contain starch. This is no coincidence. Starch is the best energy source for your ravenously hungry brain and the optimum fuel for replenishing the body’s stores of glycogen that have been depleted overnight. Starches are gradually digested in the intestines and converted into brain-friendly sugars. Fiber in the same food slows the digestion process even further, ensuring a longer-term energy supply.
Be wary—convenient breakfasts often come at a cost. For example, instant porridge and whole grain porridge may look similar and have identical ingredients, but the body handles them quite differently. The rolled oats in instant porridge are sliced small and steamed before packing so that they cook faster, but their starches are part-cooked and the fiber is damaged, meaning they release energy much faster and they won’t keep you as full as slower-cooked rolled oats. In one study, teens were given instant or whole grain oats for breakfast; those who ate the quick-cook variety became hungrier much sooner and ended up eating 53 percent more calories at lunch.
Refined starches, such as those found in white bread and rice, not only release their sugars faster than unrefined counterparts, but much of their fiber, nutrients, and minerals are also lost when they are processed.
To add to your starch-based, ideally nonprocessed breakfast, you can eat fresh fruit or vegetables for extra vitamins and fiber, protein to fill you up, and fat to help repair nerves and absorb vitamins. Limit sugary foods, since sugar supplies only short-term energy and is a powerful driver for tooth decay.
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feeling hungry?
This graph shows how different foods affect how much and for how long you feel full: unrefined rye will keep you fuller for longer than cornflakes, made from highly refined corn.
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comparing breakfasts
Breakfasts vary considerably across the world, and no nation has the “perfect” breakfast. Two typical breakfasts from China and India, respectively, are shown here. Congee is a rice porridge that is particularly energy-rich. Masala dosas are spicy vegan pancakes made with ground rice and lentils.