Breakfast should provide energy for physical activities throughout the morning. If you skip breakfast, your blood sugar will not be high enough, making you unresponsive and working inefficiently. Eating breakfast correctly can nourish your stomach, keep you healthy, and provide sufficient energy to cope with the hectic affairs of the day.
After a night’s rest, the stomach is excited in the morning, and its digestive capacity is robust. However, if you don’t eat breakfast, your stomach can only wait in vain while empty. The large amount of gastric acid it secretes has no use but to stay in your stomach. Over time, gastritis and gastric ulcers will quickly occur.
We can categorize all breakfast foods into grains, vegetables, fruits, fish/meat, and eggs. A good-quality breakfast includes three of these five types of food, especially high-protein items (fish, meat, eggs). If you have four, your breakfast is quite nutritious. If you have all five types, you are taking good care of yourself and being careful not to overeat.
As for what to have for breakfast, a perfect breakfast should start with a glass of warm water after getting up. It warms and wakes up the stomach simultaneously. You can have breakfast about half an hour after drinking water. After a night of rest, the Yang energy in the human body is like the rising sun in the morning, which is still weak. It is vital to consume foods that warm the body’s Yang energy so that the functions of the internal organs can start to operate normally and efficiently. Therefore, remember not to eat raw or cold vegetables and fruits on an empty stomach in the morning.
Eating raw or cold food early in the morning will damage the body’s Yang energy, resulting in a Yang-deficient constitution and numerous diseases. Some people eat energy soup made of raw and cold fruits and vegetables for breakfast, which not only does not replenish energy but even damages the Yang energy of the spleen and stomach early in the morning, causing symptoms of spleen deficiency such as flatulence, chest tightness, shortness of breath, diarrhea, tiredness, and fatigue.
The ‘3-2-1’ diet
After a night’s rest, the absorption capacity of various body parts is at its best in the morning. All internal organs are ready and waiting to accept your tasks. At this time, gastric juice is abundantly secreted, the food you eat is fully digested, and the excess is transported through the intestines smoothly. In the evening, after a day of exhausting work, the internal organs are also relatively tired and depressed and may go on strike. Overeating at dinner will increase the burden on the internal organs and cause excess dietary waste to be unable to be excreted and accumulated in the body, leading to many chronic diseases.
Therefore, the daily dietary principle should be based on the ratio of “three for breakfast,” “two for lunch,” and “one for dinner.” Breakfast should be nutritious and contain enough protein (fish, meat, eggs) to cope with the day’s physical exertion. Dinner should be small in quantity and mainly composed of foods that are easy to digest and absorb.
Protecting ‘stomach energy’ is the key
According to traditional Chinese medicine, the spleen and stomach are the body’s foundation and the source of vital energy and blood. As mentioned above, eating raw or cold food on an empty stomach for breakfast is not advisable for fear of damaging the spleen’s and stomach’s Yang energy (that is, stomach energy).
The first bite of breakfast is best served warm, not cold, because your stomach likes warm food. To maintain stomach energy, whether warm porridge or warm milk, it is best not to eat cold food for breakfast.
However, we must note that milk should not be drunk alone on an empty stomach and is unsuitable for all body types. Moreover, milk and eggs are not a perfect breakfast combination. Although this combination provides protein and fat, it must include essential carbohydrates. Therefore, people who like milk and eggs for breakfast should still add some grains and fruits.
Japonica rice is the best food for breakfast
Japonica rice, also known as Sinica rice, white rice, and hard rice, is neutral and non-toxic in its food nature. It is sweet and has a light taste. It complements the spleen and stomach meridians.
Its benefits are many. It unifies the inner body, replenishes energy, calms and balances the five vital organs, quenches thirst, stops diarrhea, strengthens muscles and bones, promotes blood circulation, and improves the body and mind. It mainly treats symptoms such as diarrhea, weak stomach, dry mouth, thirst, and vomiting.
Of all the foods that we eat, the one that best protects and improves the body’s stomach energy is Japonica rice. According to ancient books: “Japonica rice is the rice that people commonly eat, which senses the harmony of heaven and earth and contributes to the growth of mankind. It is the top of the five grains and the food people depend on for their lives.”
Japonica rice “presents the correctness of the earth’s moral character, tastes sweet and light, and is neutral and non-toxic; although it mainly regulates the spleen and stomach, the five vital organs, blood vessels, and body’s vital essence are filled because of it, and the muscles, bones, and skin of the whole body are strengthened because of it.” From this, we can see that Japonica rice is the most essential food for health.
Translated by Cecilia and edited by Amanda
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