Breakfast — Well, sometimes anyhow
I’ve never been big on breakfast, at least not the tradition kind anyhow. As a kid I ate cereal before going to school because Mom insisted. When on my own, I gave all that up for one bottle of Mountain Dew. I know, no nutrition, but the caffeine and sugar woke me up, got me energized for the day and usually instigated a bowel movement (i.e. ‘morning constitutional’) as well. That was my breakfast from age 20 to age 48. Surprising my only chronic illnesses are slight rosacia on the nose and gout in the toes.
Oh, it didn’t end there — 48 is the age I was when I moved to Mexico. They didn’t have Mountain Dew here then (it has been introduced since), so I switched to Coke. Coca Cola is the Mexican National Addiction. If I ever need money here I plan to open a Coca Cola store and sell for 1/2 peso less than the going rate …
It was only a couple years after my 50th birthday that I finally gave up cola breakfast and began drinking coffee. Isabel and I opened a coffee-shop here in Chapala, using the covered patio of a friend with a lovely garden-sculptures-pool view. I had drunk a little coffee in high-school, but never made it a habit. Researching the subject for the coffee-shop, I was surprised to learn that coffee has actually been found to be healthy for you — the benefits of the anti-oxidant flavinoids outweighs any negative effect the caffeine may exert.
I switched to coffee for breakfast. At first with two spoons sugar in fresh-brew, or even sweeter Mexican Café de Olla — a delicious blend of coffee and chocolate with the brown-sugar piloncillo. Gradually I’ve cut back on the sugar since beginning fasting, and now drink my coffee without any additives. The fasting regime prevents me from eating my evening snack, so I have also begun eating actual food for breakfast, but it is still light — one pancake, piece of French Toast, or maybe Banana Bread, alternated with the less-starchy yogurt and/or fruit. Breakfast is only every-other-day, so I have a light starchy breakfast a couple times per week, and a fruity breakfast the other time or two.
Over on Dr. Eades Health & Nutrition blog, the current post is called ‘Big Breakfast Bunkum’ and looks at a recently reported study of the effect of a large breakfast on dieting efforts. As the title suggests, the good Doctor is skeptical of the report, and for good reason. This is a great example of how to evaluate a research report — he focuses on what is NOT said as much as on what the study claims. And the avowed interests of the prime researcher are not ignored. If funding had been mentioned (and it wasn’t) I might add that looking at that is another clue as to potential bias. I personally do not agree with Dr. Eades low-carb diet focus, despite the fact that I love meat and was never happier than when we tried out the Atkins diet (we both gained weight), but he does talk a lot of sense. I’ll be adding a link to his blog in the blogroll here…
