In order for a breakfast to have the staying power your kids need, it must have a low glycemic index. The glycemic index is simply a measure of how fast the body converts carbohydrates in a particular food or meal into fuel.
In an interview with NPR's Allison Aubry, Duke University Professor of Pediatrics Terrill Bravender explains that foods low on the glycemic index are the key to sustained brainpower. A high glycemic index breakfast (such as sugar-packed cereal, pastries, or a glass of juice consumed with nothing else) will provide only a couple of hours of energy, leaving the body and mind depleted long before lunch.
A Simple Formula for Brainpower
According to the website of leading pediatrician Dr. William Sears, the breakfast foods you choose will have a profound impact on your child's ability to do well in school. "Children who eat a breakfast containing both complex carbohydrates and proteins in equivalent amounts of calories tend to show better learning and performance than children who eat primarily a high protein or a high carbohydrate breakfast."
Think outside of the cereal box, and start looking at breakfast as any combination of the two key elements (complex carbohydrates and protein). If your kids don't like eggs, how about some of last night's whole-wheat pasta and a piece of string cheese? Or a peanut butter and banana sandwich made with whole grain bread? No matter what your kids like to eat, you can provide them with a customized brainpower breakfast by selecting one or more foods of each type.
Brainpower Breakfast Foods
- Complex Carbohydrates: Multigrain or whole-wheat bread, flatbread, tortillas, and crackers; whole-grain pasta; brown rice; oatmeal (regular oats have a lower glycemic index than quick-cooking or instant oats); whole-grain pancakes; whole-wheat frozen waffles.
- Protein: Eggs (cooked that morning, or hard boiled in advance); leftover chicken, turkey, or fish; low fat cheese; beans (which can also count toward the complex carbohydrate requirement); natural peanut butter.
Add a piece of fruit and a glass of low fat milk, and your child will be ready to learn all morning long with no energy crash.
A Gradual Approach May Be Best
If the idea of taking away your kids' favorite sugar-laden cereal is too much to bear, start by supplementing that cereal with a small serving of complex carbs and protein. Then, each week, decrease the amount of sugary cereal they eat and increase the brainpower foods. After a few weeks, you'll be sending your kids to school with the fuel they need to succeed.
Christine E. Taylor - Christine E. Taylor is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Christine is currently writing a series of articles ...
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