Breakfast of (Heart) Champions

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Breakfast of (Heart) Champions

Why a healthy first meal is vital for your ticker

By Lorie Parch

 

Given our druthers, many of us would start the day with breakfast a la Homer

Simpson: a couple of doughnuts and coffee. Alas, such a meal does your heart no

favors. In fact, the saturated fat, calories, sugar and lack of nutrients would

be downright dangerous if you ate that every day. The good news, though, is that

by having a healthful breakfast every morning, you can go a long way toward

keeping your ticker strong. " You start with the good building blocks of

breakfast and then transcend it into the other meals of the day, " says Dr. Nieca

Goldberg, chief of women's cardiac care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and

the author of Women Are Not Small Men: Life-Saving Strategies for Preventing and

Healing Heart Disease in Women (Ballantine, 2002).

 

So what are the building blocks for a heart-healthy breakfast? You should aim

for three elements, says Cindy Moore, director of nutrition therapy at The

Cleveland Clinic and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. " You

want a combination of a fiber source — probably a whole grain of some kind like

bread or cereal; a piece of whole fruit; and some sort of protein source,

whether dairy or eggs/egg substitutes or fish or lean poultry. The optimal

breakfast has those three. "

 

Bulking up

Fiber is especially important to lowering the risk for heart disease, since it

offers a double benefit: " Many fiber sources contain B vitamins — folic acid

(folate), vitamins B6 and B12 — which help in reducing homocysteine levels, "

explains Moore. When homocysteine, an amino acid, doesn't get broken down

normally in the body, there's more of it around. More homocysteine usually means

more plaque, which can increase the risk for vascular and heart problems,

Goldberg says. A study published in the Jan. 19 issue of the Journal of the

American Medical Association noted that women ages 27-44 who got at least 1,000

micrograms of folate daily (through diet and supplements) had a 46 percent

reduced risk of high blood pressure than those who got less than 200 micrograms

a day. What's more, when you get lots of fiber you also reduce cholesterol

levels.

 

Since fortified cereals and breads contain more fiber than is easy to get in

most foods, breakfast is the perfect opportunity to bulk up to reach the 3-plus

ounces (85-plus grams) of whole grains the new federal dietary guidelines say we

should try to get daily: Aim for 4-5 grams of fiber per serving, advises Moore,

though many of the higher-fiber cereals will contain a lot more than that. " You

could have oatmeal, whole-grain toast or a bagel or English muffin, or even a

whole-wheat pita filled with hummus — the chickpeas have fiber too — and

matchstick carrots and broccoli. " Fruits and vegetables also have lots of fiber

and the new guidelines recommend eating two cups of fruit and 2½ cups of

vegetables per day (for a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet). Whatever high-fiber foods

you choose, you'll be doing your body good. A study of thousands of male

health-care professionals over 14 years, published in the December 2004 edition

of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that those

who ate the most whole grains had the lowest incidence of coronary heart

disease — something other studies corroborate. But the study also noted that the

bran in the cereals seemed to be the most important dietary factor in keeping

the men's hearts healthy: Those who got 11 grams of bran daily reduced their

heart disease risk by a very impressive 30 percent. .

 

But it's not just the fiber that's responsible for those health benefits:

Cereal, fruits and vegetables are full of heart-protective antioxidants like

vitamins A, C, and E. Says Goldberg: " The heart [benefit of] antioxidants [in

studies] was found from food, not supplements. People were eating it in their

diet. If you add fresh fruit — blueberries, raspberries, strawberries — they all

have antioxidants, and blueberries are one of the highest sources. "

 

What to skip

Skipping breakfast can be just as bad as the doughnuts-and-java start to the

day. By passing up your first meal, not only are you missing an opportunity to

get in more fiber and heart-healthy sources of protein, calcium and other

nutrients, but you also may be increasing your odds for gaining weight. " Some

studies have shown — though this isn't conclusive — that people who eat on a

more frequent basis are not only at a little more healthful weight, but they

have lower cholesterol levels, " says Moore.

 

If you're adding breakfast to your daily lineup, be sure to skip processed foods

like energy bars, ready-to-go meals, frozen foods and the like. " Oftentimes

these products contain trans fatty acids. If you look on the ingredients list

and see 'partially hydrogenated oil,' that's a tip-off that it has trans fatty

acids, " explains Moore. " These fats act similarly to saturated fat, in that they

raised the LDL (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (the good cholesterol). " In

2006, new regulations will require all food labels to show the amount of trans

fatty acids in a food, but until then you'll need to look out for the word

" hydrogenated " on the ingredient list. Also be wary of full-fat animal products

— pork bacon, sausage, cheeses — at breakfast, as these are typically high in

heart-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol, not to mention calories.

 

Here are some suggestions for a heart-healthy and delicious start to the day,

courtesy of nutritionist Cindy Moore:

 

Egg sandwich

Two slices whole-grain toast (or whole-grain English muffin or bagel)

1 egg (fried using nonstick pan spray)

1/2 to 3/4 ounce (or 1 pre-packaged slice) reduced-fat Swiss or cheddar cheese

1 tomato slice

1-2 slices reduced-fat turkey bacon (microwaved)

 

 

Pancakes and waffles

Use these substitutions for your favorite recipe. You can leave out the oil

entirely, says Moore, and it won't affect the flavor.

 

 

Substitute whole-wheat flour (for all-purpose flour) for half the flour called

for

1 Tb sugar (or sucralose/Splenda)

Dash of salt

Substitute skim milk (for whole, 1, or 2 percent milk)

Substitute egg substitute (for whole egg)

 

 

To add flavor and fiber to pancakes, drop blueberries, strawberries or

raspberries into the batter. For waffles, make a quick fruit sauce instead of

using syrup: Add a little water to frozen berries (1/4-½ cup for a whole package

of berries) to soften them. When the berries are the right texture, add 1 Tb of

sugar or so and mix in. Pour sauce on waffles, pancakes or French toast.

 

Egg strata

Combine egg substitute or a combination of egg substitute and whole eggs (about

4 eggs' worth) and about 1 cup fat-free milk. Remove the crusts from 4-6 slices

of whole-grain bread and cube the bread into about ½-inch square cubes. Pour egg

and milk mixture over cubed bread and let it sit for about 5 minutes so milk

gets absorbed (bread should be moist; you can add more milk if desired). If you

have some grilled onions or peppers or other cooked veggies, you can mix these

in with the bread mixture and sprinkle with black pepper. Pour mixture into a

casserole dish. Put low-fat cheese slice on top and spread a bit of margarine

mixed with unseasoned bread crumbs (made with whole-grain bread, if possible) on

top. Microwave 1-2 slices of reduced-fat turkey bacon, chop it up and sprinkle

on top of dish. Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.