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Summer breakfast


A rich breakfast is the best way to start the day and provide our body with the energy it needs. Perhaps you have already read that having a "king's breakfastincreases the basal metabolism, and therefore helps us facing with an extra gear the situations of stress, both physical and psychological, that may arise. Recent research also confirms that it is one of the fundamental pillars in support of the treatment of depression.

The intense heat of these days urges all our capacities to adapt physically and mentally. A few tricks can be enough to be well prepared. And breakfast is a great tool to activate our ability to withstand summer temperatures.

There is no excuse: you should have breakfast within an hour of waking up because several hours have already passed without eating, and our body needs energy.

Considering the high temperatures, it is crucial to ensure the correct supply of liquids and minerals. Therefore all fresh fruit of the season has the green light.

Nature provides us with the most suitable foods to resist the heat: bananas and apricots contain potassium and magnesium, two minerals essential to withstand the heat of these days without sagging pressure.

A good supply of fresh seasonal fruit, with its mineral salts and vitamins, can relieve the sense of exhaustion typical of the hottest days. However, you should keep in mind that the same feeling of dizziness is given by excessive consumption of simple carbohydrates not accompanied by proteins.

When we have breakfast just with a cup of coffee and a few biscuits, we introduce only carbohydrates, which raise blood sugar levels, causing the intervention of insulinThis critical hormone acts by removing all the sugars from the blood-producing a state of hypoglycemia (low sugar levels in the blood). This condition is perceived as exhaustion, adding dizziness to the typical feeling of the hottest hours.

For these reasons it is always good to combine carbohydrates and proteins, at breakfast as in all other meals of the day, limiting the intervention of insulin and thus reducing the annoying sense of exhaustion of the hot days. 

Here are some practical examples for your mournings:

  • Fruit, preferably in season, such as peaches, melon, plums, bananas or apricots, followed by yoghurt with a nice handful of nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.), a crepe spread with no sugar added jam and a coffee.
  • Two slices of melon, two handfuls of sugar-free cereals, vanilla soy milk, and two slices of ham to crunch with a few walnuts and some organic almonds, along with the inevitable tea or coffee.

These are wise combinations of carbohydrates and proteins, which therefore do not stimulate the excessive production of insulin, and keep the body light but well-nourished, preventing that terrible sense of hunger that stimulates the cravings of doughnuts or focaccia in the late morning.

The diet of this period is closely related to the annoying sense of swelling of the summer months, especially in the legs. This condition depends on the peripheral vasodilatation that the body uses to dissipate heat.

Excessive consumption of salt hidden in food only increases the mechanisms responsible for swelling and inevitably increases the sense of heaviness of the whole body. Therefore, it is important to limit the consumption of salt (the hidden one) in the morning and for all the hottest hours of the day. So, for breakfast, it is better to avoid all leavened bakery products such as bread, biscuits and rusks that have a substantial amount of salt. Cheese and cold cuts should also be limited.

As you can see, small measures will let us to fully enjoy our holidays or, for those who stay to work in the cities, to limit the hardship of the mugginess.