Malaysians Need Motivation To Eat

You may be surprised to find out that Malaysians, a people known for loving their food, actually need motivation to eat their breakfast. Only 1 out of 3 Malaysian adults eat breakfast daily, that is only 79.1% according to a survey done by the Ministry of Health. I don’t dare to know if our kids are eating or not.

For me, breakfast is a DEFINITE MUST! I don’t think I can do any work without it. That is why I am so glad the drink I grew up with, Milo is campaigning for Malaysians to start taking their breakfast, even if it is just a mug of Milo in the morning. Milo Breakfast Movement has been working hard with roadshows in Shopping Malls around Malaysia to providing breakfasts in schools, and this will run up to the Malaysia Breakfast Day coming 5 May 2013 in UPM. This event will be all healthy and fun, with a fun run going on, games, performances, and breakfast none the less. Anyone can attend and it starts at 7am.

Now let me tell you why Breakfast is really important. I know about this fact even before attending the Milo Breakfast Day Media Launch last month where a nutritionist double confirmed the fact. The most important reason for me is, having breakfast can make you slimmer. How, you may ask. Simple, when you wake up in the morning, if you do not eat anything at all, your body will slow down its metabolism so preserve your energy. Eventually, you will not feel hungry in the mornings, but with a slower metabolism, your body is unable to process the calories at an optimum rate, and eventually your body will store your extra calories as fat. Also, without breakfast, most people will eat more at lunch and dinner. Having said that, the breakfast we eat should be a healthy one, that means low fat, high fibre foods, and not stuffs like Nasi Lemak and Mata Kerbau. Oh, it’s also important that breakfast is taken within an hour’s time frame from awakening and not later than that.

During the Milo Breakfast Day Media Launch, there was also a cooking show done by Chef Sabri, apparently he is quite famous. He showed us how to do some simple and fast breakfast, and I was quite impressed with the Muesli. All the while, and did not know that Oat meal can be ‘cooked’ in cold milk. Well, all he did was pour cold milk into Instant Oatmeal and chopped lots of types of colourful fruits, nuts and raisins and add it inside.

I started making this type of breakfast every morning since then and use whatever fruits I can find in my fridge, and hey it is just so tasty, easy and filling, not to mention rather healthy too. It can even be prepared in advance at night, although I don’t do that since I don’t want my cut fruits to lose any of its nutrients. I think I’m going to give Barley a try too, multi grains would be better for lower cholesterol as well.