Don't Forget the Most Important Meal of the Day

(By: Kimberly A. Tessmer, RD LD)

Here's what the research indicates:

• Breakfast is linked to a lower body mass, compared to people who skip the meal.
• Breakfast is shown to reduce a person's risk of obesity and insulin resistance.
• Breakfast is one of the few proven strategies to maintaining long-term weight loss.
• Breakfast is shown to improve grades and behavior among school children.

In addition breakfast can give you a boost through your morning routine and help you to think more clearly!  You need to fuel your body after a long time span of no food.  Skipping breakfast can cause you to snack or graze all morning long, taking in too many calories and many times calories from the wrong foods.  It can also cause you to over-do lunch with portions that are too large.  Getting to lunch without eating all morning can push you to make the wrong choices.  Eating breakfast along with regular meals throughout the day makes controlling what and how much you eat much easier!  That is a key to weight loss and weight maintenance.

Pump Up the Iron

(By: Kimberly A. Tessmer, RD LD)

Many people are eating less red meat these days for a healthier diet.  Since red meat it an iron-rich food, it is important to continue to eat other iron-rich foods. An iron-fortified cereal is a good start, but there are many choices.

Adult women (age 19 to 50 years) need 18 mg of iron a day, women over the age of 50 need 8 mg daily, and adult men (age 19 and over) require 8 mg daily.  Iron is a mineral that is an important part of hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood from your lungs to every cell in the body.  Iron also aids in brain development and supports a healthy immune system.  A deficiency of iron in the diet can lead to anemia, along with fatigue and infections.

How do you get your fill? Iron comes from both plant (nonheme) and animal (heme) foods.  The iron from animal foods is absorbed better than the iron from plant foods.  However the iron in plant foods is much better absorbed when consumes with a source of vitamin C.  Good plant sources of iron include fortified breakfast cereals, beans, soy foods, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruits and seeds. Good animal sources include beef liver, lean red meats, skinless chicken, pork, and fish such as salmon.