Start The Day The Right Way!
The American Heart Association shared this excellent breakfast parfait recipe (see below). Starting the day with a delicious and nutritious breakfast can make your day happier and healthier.
A good breakfast combines protein, complex carbohydrates, and a little healthy fat keeps hunger at bay and fuels your body for the morning. Skipping breakfast, as I mention in this article on Answers.com, can increase your risk of heart disease. In addition, consistent timing of meals is important in maintaining a healthy metabolism. Going too long without food puts stress on the body and creates other side effects including:
- Slowing metabolism. Many people who skip breakfast in an attempt to lose weight, find they gain weight instead. As the body receives less food, it slows down the number of calories it burns.
- Decreasing energy. Without proper fuel, the body is able to perform physical tasks well. Decreased energy makes exercise more difficult and may again lead to weight gain over time.
- Decreasing muscle tone. The body will divert calories to essential functions, and away from maintaining muscles.
- Decreasing productivity and concentration. Without enough fuel, brain function is diminished and creative thought made difficult.
Get more healthy breakfast tips here – and try out this recipe:
Serves 4; 3/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup fruit, and 2 tablespoons sauce per serving
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed if frozen
1 medium mango, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 6-ounce containers fat-free, sugar-free vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Nutrition Facts
- Calories 169
Total Fat 0.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 4 mg
Sodium 99 mg
Carbohydrates 35 g
Fiber 5 g
Sugars 25 g
Protein 6 gDietary Exchanges
1 1/2 fruit, 1 fat-free milk
Preparation
- In each of 4 parfait glasses or wine goblets, spoon 2 tablespoons raspberries, 2 tablespoons mango, and a heaping 1/3 cup yogurt. Repeat the layers, using all the remaining yogurt.
- In a food processor or blender, process the remaining raspberries and mango with the sugar and cinnamon until smooth. Spoon over each serving.© American Heart Association
Your turn:
What is your favorite healthy breakfast? Share your ideas in a comment below. Thanks!
Women’s Motivational Wellness Speaker Eliz Greene works with busy people to improve heart health, so they can live longer, feel better, and stress less.
She is a heart attack survivor and the author of the Busy Woman’s Guide to a Healthy Heart as well as 3 other books on wellness. She writes one of the top 50 health and wellness blogs and is a sought-after women’s wellness & stress management keynote speaker. Eliz was recently named one of the Top Ten Online Influencers on Stress and is the Heart Disease Expert on Answers.com
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