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Chapter 1: Why is convenience impacting breakfast choices for Irish adults?
I suspect the National Dairy Council has a vested interest in this, but it has researched... commissioned, which are released today, which says that while most Irish adults value a healthy start to the day, convenience continues to strongly influence their breakfast choices. So we've asked Sarah Keogh to join us, founder of eatwell.ie. She's a registered dietitian.
And Sarah, that issue of convenience, does that mean that in getting something that is convenient, maybe quick, cheap, that a lot of people might be starting their day off with an unhealthy breakfast?
No, not at all. I mean, something can be very convenient and still good for you. And I find a lot of the options that are there for breakfast actually can be both. So, you know, you're ready to eat cereals, you know, your bowl of granola, or if you want to even just microwave up your porridge, quick and convenient and absolutely fine.
I think if you're leaning into a lot of kind of pastries and things like that on the go, bit of an issue in terms of just, you know, a lot of saturated fat and things like that with it. But I find what I would find with people, a lot of the breakfasts that are just quick in the morning actually are fine. And the main thing is where you can to go for something that's whole grain or high fibre.
So like your brown toast kind of thing or your high fibre breakfast cereal is actually a really good start.
So something is better than nothing to give you a kickstart, is it?
Definitely is. I mean, the big thing about skipping breakfast, and we have a lot of research on it, is that people do struggle to make up their nutrition for the rest of the day. So people who skip breakfast typically struggle to catch up on things like iron and fibre in particular, but also some of their B vitamins. If you miss that whole meal, it can be difficult.
And what I would find for a lot of people, breakfast tends to be one of the healthier meals of the day. You know, if they are having that cereal, they're having that kind of milk or yogurt for the calcium thing, bit of protein, you know, they often have a bit of fruit there. It's actually a really nice place just to start off the day.
It's a lot of danger though that with a lot of things like cereals, what you're eating is sugar, which gives you a bit of a sugar rush and means you have a crash in mid-morning needing more food rather than having a breakfast that'll take you through to lunchtime.
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Chapter 2: What types of foods are considered healthy for breakfast?
And then if you're adding in a little bit of protein there, whether that's like adding a yogurt or a milk or if you like a boiled egg in the morning, if you have time, that's fine. So it's kind of that mixed kind of a few different things going on with the food if you have time to do it.
Lots of people are leaning into exercise in the morning to get the day going. Should people have their breakfast before the exercise or after? And are there things that maybe they shouldn't be taking, maybe particularly if they're having it after their exercise?
So what we find from research around exercise is you're definitely better if you can eat before you go to exercise. But what I find a lot of the research around sports and nutrition is looking at elite athletes. And, you know, what I might see is people who get up in the morning and just exercise straight away because that's the only time they can do it.
And then they're having breakfast on the go on the way into work. So I think it's got to see what suits your individual routine. But if you can eat something before you go to exercise, it's good. I wouldn't try a huge amount of food first thing. If your stomach is very full, it can sit there for an hour or so before, and then if you're trying to exercise on it.
But even something small like a yogurt or a piece of fruit, banana or something before you start to exercise, we do see better results in terms of kind of the workout and the amount of exercise that you can do is improved.
Leaving the exercise apart, a final one. What about that old saying, you know, breakfast like a king and then you have a smaller meal in the middle of the day and then you eat like a pauper in the evening? Should you be front-loading your food at breakfast time?
No.
You don't need to. And we see all of those different things about how you should and shouldn't eat any food in the day. And at the end of the day, what we see in the research is it actually doesn't matter at all. There is a myth that you kind of store more of your food if you eat it in the evening and so on, but the science doesn't support that anymore. So it's really what's comfortable for you.
If you're like having a big breakfast in the morning, go for it. If you're like me and just a little bit to start the day and then pick up later, that's absolutely fine as well.
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