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pareekpallav@gmail.com
9. April 2010 00:25
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| Admin: The author of the post is Pallav Pareek who is working with Deprtment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, Resident(PGY2) Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center. |
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When I was a student, I would usually wake up very close to the hour when I had to go for my classes and at that time it would be a struggle to get those 15-20 minutes to brush, get dressed, shave and grab my back pack and books. Breakfast would not come in my priority list, except every now and then. As I am writing this I feel "how could I have done that," but that was me. So I am just hoping you all learn from my mistake(s). |
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Many of you, who need a good scientific reason for any explanation, and I expect you should, would just wonder "What the crap, I have been doing well without any breakfast for so long, Why would I need that now." So we will discuss very scientifically (almost) why we as humans need breakfast and why it is the most important meal of the day.
Breakfast: as the word suggests is breaking a fast, as we have had about 8-9 hours without any food, where the body was still consuming the energy at a certain pace (viz for breathing, for the heart pumping blood to our system, and brain the biggest grocer of energy, which always needs energy no matter sleep or awake).
Top reasons for skipping a breakfast include :
- Running late
- Not being hungry so early in the morning
- Wanting to lose some weight
First we will address the 2nd issue, as the first one is more life style oriented and needs a few pieces of the system to be set straight, like going to bed at a certain time (I hope you guys have started incorporating the mantra of sound sleep into your daily life routines) and not being able to wake up at the right time to have that window to have a breakfast. Let's talk about "not feeling hungry so early in the morning." As this seems to be out of our control. As a physician I can assure you that the stomach and the whole metabolic system is like a bag, which gets used to being filled or not filled, very easily. So as it got used to going without food, it will soon learn to ask for food as you wake up.
The 2 Week "getting started" breakfast workout: You might have to force yourself to eat for the first day, which will be the most difficult if you have lost that habit of eating early in the morning, less so on the second, but when you eat for the full week, the second week will be easier to feed yourself, and I can assure you on the fourteenth day, your body will ask for the breakfast. And that is what we need.
Question # : Why is this one meal called Breakfast so important for us:
- As mentioned above, our body is more like a car which was gone on a long trip the previous day, used all the petrol, and it now has some reserve fuel, but it is always wise to fill up the tank, and then go for the long drive that is studying/school/college/job-hunt/job.
- Elders say that the early morning is the best time to study ,as some of you must have noticed, we have our best learning when we wake up (what time is another Pandora’s box which I don’t want to open now), and during that time the brain needs abundant supply of the fuel it can use with best ease i.e. glucose.
- Some of us won’t eat this meal because we want to lose weight and look slim, but medical science says that skipping a breakfast is like taking the body to the starvation mode, and it gets the signal that though food will come, I am not sure when, and once I get it I don’t know if another one will follow soon , so the body starts converting that late first meal which you eat , into fat (the form in which body wants to store it’s energy reserves), just in case ….
- Studies show* that students who eat breakfast,
a) do better at school/college,
b) have better academic performance and better psychosocial functioning,
c) less fidgetiness or anxiety feelings during day time (especially for children),
d) increase attention levels,
e) have lower BMI, or less weight problems
I am sure this article gave you reasons enough to think that you should start breaking your day with a nice meal, and having a good breakfast will make you do better, and for those who are smiling as they are reading this article , by saying "I am already on the top of my class, and I never have breakfast", I have just one thing to tell : you are still to explore your full potential , as without a breakfast you are at 75% or less of what you can do.
We shall talk next week about which foods constitute or can make a good breakfast, choosing the right breakfast, over the wrong ones. Till then stay healthy, stay sharp, and success is waiting for you……….
(If any of you has any questions about the references the author uses, or if you have any other queries or questions which don’t get answered, or would need a better scientific explanation, please feel free to contact.
Check my previous post : Click Here |
by
pareekpallav@gmail.com
3. March 2010 06:34
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| Admin: The author of the post is Pallav Pareek working with Deprtment of Psychiatry & BehavioralNeurosciences, Resident(PGY2) Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center. |
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He would now be regulary advicing on MeraCareerGuide.Com and writing to studentson study schedules, Best Practices for after and before exams preps. The importanceof sleep and sleep hygiene and stresses related queries.
The biggest question students, including myself(when I was a student), always ask is "how much sleep do I need" Thisquestion is very difficult to answer, but most sleep experts agree that after yourlate teens (after 14 years of age) and during your adult life most of us have arequirement of about 8-9 hours of sleep |
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| The individual requirement can’t becalculated by a machine, so be your own judge and you will for sure know which numberis best for you. It should fall between 6-10 hours. As a rule of thumb, if youare using your brain at full capacity, say exam time, we recommend 8 hours of sleepevery 24 hours. This could be 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, or apower nap of about 45 minutes during day and 7.15 hours during night or 2 hoursduring the day and 6 hours at night. Most people would function at their best ifthis calculation is followed. |
Yet another intriguing question that is alwayson a student’s mind is "I am wasting my time sleeping and everybodyelse in my class, or my group, or my friendsmust be studying at this hour". I would strongly advice not to fall in thistrap of sleeping less and doing more. Problems encountered with less sleep and morework, include
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- Feeling tired, irritated and exhausted the next day (which you might be able to hide well from people outside, but you sure feel that way inside. And we all know probably by this point in our lives, what we feel inside is much more important for us, for how we function).
- Lack of sleep causes jitteriness, and depression, which threatens both our creativity and efficiency.
- Sleeping less interferes with the production of Leptin, the hormone which counteracts hunger, thereby making you need more food and eventually gaining more weight. Most of us don’t want to look that way ;) given a choice. So here we have a choice, SLEEP WELL, and look smart and feel smarter.
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- Less sleep causes weakened immunity. You have less/alteration of the white blood cells circulating in your body [the cells required to fight infection], thus more infections, like cold.
- Periods of uninterrupted sleep are required to have REM periods in our sleep which come every 45 minutes, during normal sleep. These periods are very important to make the short term memories which we have acquired during the day into long term memories (you will need them to write in your exams, or for that matter, if you want to make sense of what you learnt yesterday, or a few days ago).
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| We shall discuss in subsequent articlesin this section few things you always wanted to know: TheDo’s and Don’ts of a good sleep cycle. What is sleep hygiene andwhy is it important? How can I increase or sharpen my memory? |
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