Breakfast Foods to Keep You Focused During the Day!

BananasBreakfast foods can be pretty awesome.  Just imagine your favorite blueberry pancakes smothered in maple syrup, buy scrambled eggs, and a tall glass of orange juice.  Are you drooling yet?

You’ve probably heard before that “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” but did you ever stop to think why this may be the case?  Our society seems to be rushing around all week long.  Many kids wake at the last minute and rush out the door to catch the bus without eating or drinking anything.  Or, if they do eat breakfast, they often eat heavily processed foods like sugary breakfast cereals, pastries, doughnuts, or energy drinks.

If you skip breakfast altogether, your body won’t have enough fuel to think and move around very well.  If you eat a sweet food like doughnuts or sugary cereal, then your body will burn this energy very quickly in a sugar ‘high’ and then you’ll experience a crash in energy.  It’s better to eat foods with quality carbohydrates that will sustain your body over the morning hours until you can refuel with a healthy lunch.  As you can see, poor breakfast habits can have a negative effect on the rest of your day.  A good breakfast can help you stay focused, be alert, and have enough energy to perform at your very best.

Certain types of food are better than others so here are ten awesome breakfast foods that can help start your day off right:

  1. Green Tea – Green tea has some caffeine to give you a jolt of energy.  It also has a substance called L-theanine, which can increase brain theta waves
  2. Eggs – Whole eggs are a great source of choline, which helps with memory and brain development.
  3. Blueberries – Boost your memory function with blueberries!  These delicious berries are a great source of antioxidants too.
  4. Spinach in Your Smoothie– A green smoothie may seem kind of strange, but spinach is great for your brain.  It contains lutein, folate, and beta-carotene.
  5. Water with Lemon Juice – Water is very important to power your brain throughout the day.  Lemon can help improve your concentration and has a calming effect.
  6. Salmon – It might not be a traditional breakfast food, but salmon is fantastic for your brain.  It contains omega-3 fatty acids that can rebuild brain cells and strengthen synapses used for memory function.
  7. Red Beets – This is another food that is great for smoothies.  Red beets contain antioxidants and nitrates that improve blood flow to the brain.
  8. Bananas – A school in England actually performed an experiment where they fed their students bananas before important exams and their test scores went up!
  9. Oatmeal – If you really want to have cereal, stay away from the sugary brands and bright colors.  Instead look for something that has oatmeal rich in complex carbohydrates.
  10. Dark Chocolate – We saved the best one for last!  Dark chocolate raises serotonin and endorphin levels that aids in concentration. It also has antioxidants, vitamins, potassium, copper, and magnesium.  Studies have been done that show that regular chocolate conception can improve blood flow to the brain and help subjects perform better on memory tests!

JournalTwo-Week Journal Activity:

A.  Keep journal of your breakfast foods for one week describing if you eat breakfast and what you have. Study your journal.

How did you feel each day?    

Do you think your breakfast choices influenced your performance?

B.  Next, create a plan for healthier breakfast habits for the next week.  Continue with your journaling.  At the end of the second week, reevaluate.

Did eating a healthy breakfast make you feel better during the day? 

What did you learn during this activity?  

What are you still curious about?