Breakfast is a daily nutritional source. It can also make you concentrate and perform better at work. I eat breakfast every day. Most often, I have breakfast in a fast food shop. Following the healthy eating trend, fast food shops/Chinese style tea restaurants provide various kinds of “nutritious breakfasts”. However, they are always high in sugar, salt and oil. For example, wheat flakes with condensed milk, fried egg and corned beef sandwich, and avocado salad.

A typical set of Hong Kong style breakfast, including sausages, eggs, toast with butter, instant noodles and milk tea, provides about 1,200 kcal of energy. It is the double energy intake of a woman in a breakfast!

We cannot get all the nutrients we need from one foodstuff alone, and a balanced diet is thus necessary to keep us healthy. Eat according to the Food Pyramid would ensure well-balanced nutrition from our daily intake. How much do we need in breakfast, then? The daily amount of calories and nutrients varies among individuals. The Food Pyramid suggest an adult to have 1-2 bowls of macaroni/rice vermicelli or 2-4 slices of bread, half a bowl of vegetables and about 2 taels of meat. We can also drink a cup of milk product for our calcium need.

A good example of an EatSmart breakfast is macaroni in soup with chicken slices and assorted vegetables. The soup base is clear and sweet, greatly different from the commonly used MSG soup base. The breakfast almost meets the requirement for an adult. Sometimes, we are in a hurry to finish breakfast and overeating may be resulted.

Our dietitian has tailor-made the following EatSmart breakfasts. Enjoy the breakfasts and have a good day!

Monday	Tomato, cucumber and egg sandwich + a banana + a cup of low-fat or skimmed milk
Tuesday	A piece of steamed turnip cake + congee with vegetables and fish slices + a cup of calcium-fortified and low-sugar soy milk
Wednesday	Tuna and lettuce leaf sandwich + low-fat mango yoghurt + a cup of pure orange juice with no added sugar
Thursday	Rice vermicelli in soup with Chinese black mushroom and chicken slices + an apple + a cup of low-fat or skimmed milk
Friday	Tomato and beef macaroni + low-fat cheese toast + a cup of apple juice with no added sugar
Saturday	(Home-made) Wheat flakes with low-fat milk + boiled egg + a banana
Sunday	(Home-made) Tomato, mushroom and chicken omelette + low-fat cheese toast + a cup of calcium-fortified and low-sugar soy milk