Looking to jump-start your day? Then put some spring in your step by having a healthy breakfast every morning, nutritionists, dietitians and other health experts say.

According to doctors at the Mayo Clinic, fans of healthy breakfasts are several legs up on people who tumble right out of bed and rush off to work. In fact, breakfast aficionados are more likely to:

•  Consume more vitamins and minerals and less fat and cholesterol;

•  Have better concentration and productivity throughout the morning;

•  Control their weight;
 
•  Have lower cholesterol, which reduces the risk of heart disease.

Furthermore, the American Dietetic Association says, your kids will have better concentration, problem-solving skills and hand-to-eye coordination if they, too, eat healthy breakfasts before flying out the door to school.

And they're more likely to stay alert while at school and miss fewer days of classes, according to the Mayo Clinic's Housecalls e-newsletter.

Easy to miss

If you whine that you don't have enough time to make and eat a healthy breakfast, get up 10 minutes earlier and make it or pack it to take with you. However, food experts concede breakfast is an easy meal to miss in many households, but numerous studies have linked between breakfast skipping to obesity in children and teenagers, said Mary Ellen Camire, a food expert with the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago and the University of Maine.

For adults, going without breakfast means snacking on fat-laden stuff later in the morning or overdoing it at lunch, or both, she warned.

"While cutting out one meal may appear to be a simple means to cut daily caloric intake, research indicates that this meal is the one not to be missed," Camire said, in the recent Food Technology magazine.

For example, Camire noted, more than three-fourths of the successful dieters with the National Weight Control Registry ate breakfast every morning. The registry tracks more than 5,000 people who have lost at last 30 pounds and kept it off for one year or more.

A healthy breakfast?

According to Housecalls, a healthy breakfast involves one item from at least three of the following:

•  Fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables, 100 percent juice without added sugar.

•  Grains. Whole-grain rolls, bagels, hot or cold whole-grain cereals, low-fat bran muffins, crackers, or melba toast.

•  Dairy. Skim milk, low-fat yogurt cups or low-fat cheeses, such as cottage and natural cheeses.

•  Protein. Hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter, lean slices of meat and poultry, or fish, such as water-packed tuna or slices of salmon.

All of the items provide complex carbohydrates, protein and a small amount of fat, all of which keeps hunger at bay for several hours.

And if you're on the go - and how many of us aren't these days? - try dry, ready-to-eat cereal high in fiber with a piece of fruit and a small carton of low-fat or skim milk.

Pizza, too 

Oatmeal is another good choice, with one cup offering about 4 grams of fiber and 130 calories. The yolk of eggs, including hard-boiled ones, does contain cholesterol, but are packed with protein, vitamins A and B-12, folic acid, and phosphorus.

For the non-traditionalists, Housecalls recommends leftover vegetable pizza; fresh fruit topped with low-fat yogurt and grain cereal; vegetables, salsa and low-fat cheese in a tortilla; a smoothie blended from exotic fruits, low-fat yogurt and wheat germ; whole-wheat crackers with low-fat cheese; and a microwaved potato topped with broccoli and grated Parmesan cheese.

When eating out, you also can remember whole-grain bagels, rolls and English muffins rather than fat-filled doughnuts, scones, croissants or biscuits. Run as if your life depended on it - which, in a way, it does - from oversized breakfast sandwiches, bacon, sausage and whole milk.

Smoothie sales soar

Speaking of smoothies, sales in the United States have skyrocketed during the past five years, largely because they're viewed now as healthy and more people are looking for quick, on-the-go meal alternatives, according to study by an international market research firm.

Since 2002, sales of made-to-order and packaged smoothies have skyrocketed 80 percent, reaching $2 billion in sales last year. More than a third of the people in the Mintel study said smoothies are healthier than yogurt drinks - and more than half gave smoothies the thumbs-up for better taste, said David Lockwood, a director with Chicago-based Mintel International Group.

"Smoothies are in position to dominate the healthy beverages category," Lockwood said. "Smoothies are seen as a pleasant health treat, and this will continue to take the category far."

Check these out!

•  Are We Redefining Breakfast?

•  Six On-the-Run, Low-Cal Breakfasts

•  Eating Breakfast is Important, But So is What You Eat

•  Find 15 healthy recipes for smoothies in the Nubella Recipe Database - from Banana Berry Smoothie to Watermelon Yogurt Mint Smoothie.

Nubella News, a division of Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., offers content intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage our readers to seek prompt medical care for health issues and consult their physicians before starting a new diet, fitness regimen, or medical treatment.