Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for healthy businesses as it is for healthy bodies. What better opportunity is there in any schedule to make connections and take on board new ideas than when you are at your most alert?
But what kind of breakfast is best for businesspeople keen to hone their intellects and energy for optimum performance? American experts Dr Frank Lawlis and Dr Maggie Greenwood-Robinson claim that ‘people who make a habit of eating breakfast can do more work, are able to mainitain their mental efficiency, have faster reaction times, think better, and stay in a more positive frame of mind’ in their 2008 Brain Power Cookbook, giving the following ‘brain foods’ a special mention:
- eggs (a great source of protein, which your brain needs to operate, as well as a subtance called tyrosine which increases alertness and speeds brain function)
- carbohydrates (especially the complex ones found in oats and wholegrain cereal, to sustain your energy levels)
- fruit (whose natural sugars provide an unbeatable source of slow-release energy to keep you going longer than the competition)
- water (hydration is essential for sustained brain function)
Not to mention that wonderful substance coffee. It’s a prime source of one of nature’s most useful (and ubiquitous) stimluants — caffeine. We don’t entirely understand how caffeine works, but there is mounting evidence that it improves one’s ability to understand and retain information. Our brains are full of busy neurons, firing away to convey ideas, sensations, impressions and so forth. As they do so they produce a substance called adenosine. This is picked up by the body’s monitoring system and when it reaches a certain level, the system produces messages to let us know we’re due for a rest. One of the great things about caffeine is that it blocks adenosine receptors temporarily, thus preventing fatigue — or at least delaying it for a while. As a result we have longer to perform at our peak.
The Open University Business Network menu performs pretty well against these criteria. There’s lashings of scalding coffee and tea (that other fountain of caffeine). Or, if you are perky enough already, a selection of decaffienated beverages. We go for the convenience of croissants and danish pastries over more obvious sources of protein, but it’s still in there amongst the energy-boosting carbohydrate. And there’s plenty of fruit juice plus bite-size slices of kiwi, melon and orange (the latter is particularly highly-rated for its brain-stimulating properties). But most of all, there is nutritious networking on offer as well as energising business thinking from expert presenters.
So — quite apart from the company you’re in — what kind of breakfast gets you going in the morning?
I’d like to come out as a ‘born again’ breakfaster. Years ago my typical breakfast would have been a cup of instant coffee (three sugars) and a cigarette. Not any more! As a vegetarian I don’t resort to bacon, but normally have a cooked breakfast of egg, mushrooms, tomato, beans and the like, with toast and tea. I risk the ire of those in earshot by making fresh juices using an electric centrifugal juicer. Cereals may also feature.
I have to say I believe this is the healthy option, but more than that, I recall that when my breakfast consisted largely of hot water, sucrose and tobacco, by about ten o’clock, I was starving. So there is a strong element of self-interest as well.
As to whether I am crackling with energy and display sparkling intellect in the mornings, I couldn’t possibly comment.
In the NHS, we are pretty much against these “stimluant” yokes. Not much of an evidence base for them…
That could mean anything from learning about new technology, to taking suggestions on more efficient ways to work or communicate, to mastering social media. chiropractic marketing
People who make a habit of eating breakfast can do more work, are able to mainitain their mental efficiency, have faster reaction times, think better, and stay in a more positive frame of mind’ in their 2008 Brain Power Cookbook, giving the following ‘brain foods’ a special mention.
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American experts Dr Frank Lawlis and Dr Maggie Greenwood-Robinson claim that ‘people who make a habit of eating breakfast can do more work,have faster reaction times, think better, and stay in a more positive frame of mind.
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