Breakfast Ideas for Kids!!

Hello everyone,

Thought this topic might be helpful for some. And I didn't want to simply list a bunch of foods, but instead put some biochemistry behind it to make it more applicable. I think this will help you understand why certain foods can be better fuel for your child and allow them to stay full longer and not have that crash an hour after eating while they are in class.

When you think about the biochem behind what your child is eating for breakfast, you have to consider what is in the food, and I'm talking about protein, fat, and carbs. Most breakfast foods contain much more carbs than fats or proteins. Such as bread, banana cereal, muffins, pop tarts, donuts, pancakes, waffles, etc. Now, when you eat any carbohydrate, the digestion of it begins in the mouth with enzymes in the saliva, and then proceeds quickly in the stomach and then enters the small intestine. In the small intestine, the carbs are absorbed as sugar into the bloodstream and promotes an insulin response. A high insulin response, which would be due to a high all carb meal, will cause blood sugar to rise and then fall quickly. This causes that "sugar crash" an hour or two after eating. Now, if a meal contains fats and/or proteins, the stomach is not able to digest that mixture of food very quickly at all, even if it contains the same carbs in it as the meal that caused the high insulin response. By keeping the food in the stomach longer, it is released slowly into the small intestine and therefore absorbed much more slowly into the bloodstream and allows for a much more level insulin response without the sugar crash. Protein and fat also cause the release of the hormone glucagon which helps to maintain and stable blood sugar and keeps you from feeling hungry and prevents sugar crashing for many hours.

So, choosing something for kids for breakfast, or yourself, that will stay in the stomach a little longer and allow blood sugar to maintain a stable level is the best way to go. Therefore, do not shy away from protein and some fat. For example, peanut butter toast, with all natural peanut butter and bread made from whole grain cracked wheat with a banana and a glass of milk is an excellent option, and a favorite in our house. This can keep the kids focused thru the morning and allow them to have a better day at school.

Hope you enjoyed the read, and if you have any questions, please reply to this email and let me know. As always, thanks for reading, and if you have a moment to give the office a nice review on Google, please click here. It is much appreciated.

Dr. Mckim

8154777718