19Aug/11Off

ÿþBreakfasts that make for Smart Food for the Brain

You ve doubtless read that the first meal of the morning is your most important meal of the day. And that if you skip it, you do so at the peril of your health, your weight-loss hopes and your ability to get in a full day's work. But that's just good advice for baseline performance through the day. If you really want a mental boost so that you can be on your toes, mentally, through the day, you want your breakfast to really power those brain cells. Here's what you would putting into your breakfast for that and also for general mental agility for as long as you live.

What you're basically looking for here are complete smart breakfasts. If you're really busy, a drinkable breakfast should be far better than an eatable one. We re talking about that most complete of breakfast drinks of course, the smoothie. Making a smoothie out of berries and bananas the night before and leaving it in the fridge would make this a completely effortless breakfast too. Whipping one up could not be simpler. You just need 9 ounces of fat free milk, a half cup of berries (fresh or frozen), a quarter banana, a spoonful of flaxseed, and a quarter cup of cereal. In fact, you could serve this smoothie with a slice of whole-wheat bread sprinkled with cottage cheese on top. While this certainly would be great brain food, it would be undeniably tasty too.

Dairy can really be great food for the brain. For instance, yogurt at breakfast can be spectacular food for the brain. But what happens when you add something to what like berries or walnuts? Berries are great for antioxidants and walnuts have a great supply of omega-3s for you. But what you need is a little trickery in the way you give your body these supplies. To make sure that these last you through the whole day, you want to mix them up with a good bit of fiber. Bring nice whole-grain cereal and you should be well on your way. It can be pretty simple too. You get a cup of plain yogurt, a half cup of whole-wheat squares, a third of a cup of whole-grain cereal, chopped walnuts, fruits and a quarter cup of berries. Layer it all one after the other, and you could have quite a great yogurt parfait brain booster.

And finally, how about breakfast with cereal, peaches and milk? You could start with a bowl of whole-grain cereal with a handful of pumpkin seeds thrown in. You get lots of fiber and lots of vitamin D in antioxidants with both. You could pick up a medium-sized peach, dice it nicely, throw it in with 6 ounces of low-fat milk. Talk about ripping your brain (in a good way).