Wednesday, November 09, 2011

A Healthy Hearty Breakfast TriStupe Way

Following up from my posting on the Malaysian breakfast a blog-entry earlier, here is the promised 600kcal breakfast that is nutrition laden option and has low GI value. This portion promises to keep you full until lunch time (that is a whole 4 hours on one meal) and packs enough of minerals, vitamins and good oil to kick start the day.
Some friends has been calling this the "hamster diet" and even "bird diet" due to the present of whole grain available with each serving. I kid you not, if hamsters can run fast and birds can fly further, this got to be what works for people like me that will attempt more ultramarathons in 2012 and beyond.
Ambition aside, a new found passion to clean up the diet was driven by the fact that health is simply priceless. I am now trying to sort my gastric problem out, apart from fixing my sciatica. The need for more frequent small meal and a more neutral wholesome whole food meal has never been more urgent than now.
Free apps in iTunes. Using it to monitor my daily intake and output.
I will now attempt to breakdown what i typically have for breakfast. It will get bored after a few weeks, but the key to any successful diet is to be discipline. No amount of food replacement can replace strict discipline and wandering palate.
1. Rolled Oats
This is the mother of all oat. Rolled oats simply meant the oats, being rolled. Oat were first used as animal feed where they are usually given/mixed for horses, pets (cats and dogs) and even cow. The cholesterol lowering properties has turned this humble food into human food where they are more widely accepted as a healthier alternative than corn. Oat is the only cereal that has protein known as avenalin. They are considered to be gluten-free and in some country, they are sold as "pure oats". However, not all oats are available as equal. The typical oats available commercially are actually processed oats where only the endosperms (or the starchy part) is available for consumption. They are also blanched (so they are more appealing visually, being white and "pure").
Half the price you will pay if you get at the right place.
A whole grain consist of the endosperms (or the main component), the germs (not the one that make you sick) and the bran (that makes the oat hard). Processed oats has the bran and germs removed. The germs are the "embryo" of the grain. It is what the grain will grow to be a new plant. If you are familiar with bean sprout (or taugeh), you will see that the sprout comes from the germs while the endosperm becomes the head and the bran/husk detaching as the sprout grows. Germs are high with folic acid, vitamin E, other minerals such as magnesium and zinc, and essential fatty oil. In fact, germs separated during the process of producing "instant oats" are used again to extract the oil, or sold as "germs" for healthy living. So, you see my logic of eating more "whole" food now? Why would you want to buy back something that was supposed to be with the food, and eat them, or supplement them in your diet?
Half Cup of rolled oat  (about 35 grams) : 150kcal. 2.5grams of fat. 25grams of carbs. 5grams of protein. 2grams fiber. 0.5gram sugar. Vitamin E, B Complex, Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc.
2. Multigrains (whole grains)
Multigrains meant more than one type of grains. The one i purchased has a combination of 9 different type of  cereal grains and oil-grains. They are actually meant for whole-grain bread (from where i bought them from) and they include wheat, rye, oat, corn, soy, barley, millet, sesame and flaxseed. The last two is rich with essential fatty acid. Flaxseed is a superfood that is rich with essential fatty oil.
Price and location as noted in photo.
Wholegrain again, includes the germs, bran and endosperms of the cereal grains. Counting the calories of this mix would be difficult and a little pointless. I mix both my rolled oats and the multigrain together making them into a 1kg pack of goodness. When mixed together, there are about 1tablespoon of each multigrain in the bowl.
Approximate nutritional value for 9 type combined (35grams): 200kcal. 8gram fat(majority from flaxseed. There will be a separate entry for this superfood). 25grams carb. 3.5gram protein. 2grams fiber. whole loads of vitamins and minerals.
3. Raisins
Some call it "brain food" as the sugar in raisins (or dried up grapes) has sugar readily available to be utilized by the brain for them to function in good order. Be careful with what raisins you buy as they are also not the same. "Golden raisins" has sulphur dioxide to give it the characteristic shine. I will stick with sultanas, which are seedless Thomson grapes. They are about 70% sugar (a split between fructose and glucose) and high in antioxidants. It helps sweetening the bowl of breakfast cereal too.
10 seeds : 42kcal. no fat. 11grams of carbs. 0.4gram protein. high in Potassium.
4. Hazelnut (whole, not blanched)
I get my hazelnut with the "brown" skin intact. "White" nut went through some processes and loses some of the full nutritional value. They are used commercially to produce a well known hazelnut chocolate spread which are known to provide good hearty energy to long distance endurance athlete such as Kilian Jornet. They are rich in thiamine, protein and also essential oil. A good snack and pack a potent nutritional value.
5 seeds : 44kcal. 5gram fats. 2grams carbs. 2 gram protein. 1gram fiber. Loads of thiamine and vitamin B6.
(from top to bottom) flaxseed, hazelnut, cranberries and rolled oats
5. Almond Nuts (whole, not blanched)
Very much like hazel nut, Almond is nutritious. They are eaten raw or lightly toasted. I take mine raw. They are high in potassium and polyunsaturated fat. Good for the heart.
5 seeds: 61kcal. 5.4gram fat. 2.3gram carb. 2.3gram protein. 1gram fiber. Potassium rich.
6. Dried Cranberries
This is a superfood with high antioxidant content. Usually made into juices, i like mine with some bite hence the dried version. They are expensive (as imported) but knowing the right places to get them reduces the cost immensely. They are also great as snack and to satisfy the "sweet" craving. Filled with phythochemical, the research on cranberries to aid with the immune system and cardiovascular system. They are also known to aid with unirary tract infection (UTI) and  has anti-clotting properties. So much packed into this small superfood! They are also claimed to contain anti-cancer agent, but this has not been verified.
10fruits: 62kcal. 0.3gram fat. 16.5gram carb. 13grams sugar. Superfood.

With the 6 items above added up, it will give you about 516kcal. I take them with full cream milk (again, whole food), about half a cup that will give me 78kcal with 4.3grams of fat, 6.1gram of carb and 4gram of protein. I will throw in two tablespoon of pure yogurt (not sweetened, no flavour added) for 24kcal and loads of live probiotics for that healthy intestinal fauna growth. I portion them accordingly and put them into container for easy fast disposal so i prevent myself from opening the fridge too many times to take the ingredient out every time.
Rabbit food. Hamster Food. Bird Food. Not food. You-Name-It-Food. I see Super-food.
Total breakfast kcal : 618kcal with 22.5grams of good fat (essential fatty acid and milk fat included). As the ingredient are all low GI value, they burn slow and sustainable and one would not feel hungry after 4hours. You stop craving and at the same time, load yourself up with good stuff for a great day ahead.
I am 74kg today, with about 13% fat. For me to maintain my weight at current sedentary lifestyle (limited to sitting in front of computer weekday for 8 hours), exercises about once or twice for a total of 3hours on weekend (i need to get my sciatica and my time fixed), i will need to consume 1580kcal. The breakfast already gave me almost 40% of what i need in a day.
If you want to try the above, may i suggest you proportion as needed; bearing in mind that 1 cup of cereal whole grain breakfast will take up one typical 500ml bowl with the milk and yogurts added. It will take you 15minutes to finish and a lot of chewing involved.



4 comments:

  1. this is really help.. thanks abg ee-van.. :P

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  2. Abang Ee-Van tu yang takleh tahan. :)

    Have fun experimenting with calorie balance!

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  3. thanks, stupe! will stock these things when i go back kl in december. btw, make sure you put the flaxseed through a coffee grinder first. the shell is not digestible. so if you eat it whole, your gut won't be able to absorb the nutrition contained within the seed. end up only making your poo more expensive. that's what i heard from a body building guru. hehe.

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  4. Doc - i was told the same. here is my take. When you immerse flaxseed into the milk/water for say, 5minutes, the shell get soft and the endosperm actually gets removed from the husk. if you noticed, the husk is also hydrophillic and it turns sticky if you leave it for a while - clear indication that it has soluable fiber.

    Flaxseed is not expensive as 1kg is only RM6.50. I chew on the seeds anyway, so that got to be better than coffee grinder. ;-)

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