TPB (The Perfect Breakfast)

Recently, I read a study saying that eating a protein rich breakfast is the way to go—it staves off food cravings and prevents overeating later.

Well, a typical breakfast for me usually consists of some cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter and as much coffee as I can consume before I have to leave my house.

This difference got me thinking: Is there a magic formula for breakfast? Do eggs + toast + coffee = TPB (The Perfect Breakfast)? And, I wondered, is there a perfect time to eat it? [You have to set the stage for the part about timing, below.]

“Breakfast isn’t a prescription,” says Dr. Robert Post, the Deputy Director for the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at the USDA. His department is responsible for the new food plate that replaced the food pyramid this past summer.

Dr. Post describes creating the ideal breakfast and all ensuing meals as completing a puzzle. Consuming 2,000 calories a day, a benchmark for the average person set by the FDA, means a day’s puzzle consists of six ounces of grains, two and half cups of vegetables, two cups of fruit, three cups of dairy, and five and a half ounces of protein.

Transition needed: Breakfast is the first piece of the day’s puzzle. Regardless of  whether you eat fried eggs or granola, you subtract its calorie count from the day’s total. I subtract my one ounce of grain (a slice of whole-wheat cinnamon raisin toast) and 1.5 ounces of protein (one and a half tablespoons of peanut butter) from my daily allotment and I know that I have begun to put the pieces of my puzzle in place.

 “In actuality, breakfast is about one quarter of the daily meal pattern,” says Alice Lockett, a senior nutritionist at FNS Supplemental Nutrition Association Program. “But we don’t necessarily look at one meal and say what’s best and what’s not best.”

As far as how long someone should wait after waking up to eat, Dr. Post says this is a matter of personal preference and sometimes cultural preference, although nutritionists would suggest you don’t skip breakfast because it sets you up for the rest of the day.

“It depends on how much you ate for your last meal of the day before,” says Lockett. The more you ate and the later you ate it, the less hungry you will be in the morning and the longer you will wait to eat, she says. 

Lockett acknowledges that it’s not always possible to take the time to make a complicated, healthy breakfast every morning. When she was in college, her staple was a slice of whole grain toast topped with some peanut butter, paired with a banana and a glass of juice. (My, how times haven’t changed.)

Both Post and Lockett emphasize the importance of adhering to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. “Health is by choice, “Lockett says. “It’s the choice that is based on the decisions of the types of foods we include in our meals. It is not by chance.”

Seems like TPB does not exist.

So what about you? Do you make the breakfast choices that lead to a healthy diet? Tell me about it in the comments section!