What's your breakfast before diving?

[fdennis]

A couple of granola bars, a couple of bananas and as much water as I can drink between the accommodations and the dive boat/dive site. Unless, of course, there's a Waffle House nearby. Then it's two eggs over easy, hash browns (scattered, smothered, covered and chunked), and a quart or two of coffee.

I'm seeing a banana theme here.

The potassium in bananas is just what the doctor ordered for keeping leg cramps at bay.

 

[Ste Wart]

When someone says "raw oats" I think of what horses get, which isn't something I'd eat by choice, even if soaked in other stuff. That's why I asked. If it makes you happy, that's fine.

The last couple of girlfriends have had the same reaction. Then I make a bowl for them and they are converts.

It's normally the OJ that gets a bigger reaction, because I don't do milk on cereal. Stopped it way back when I was at University, got tired of my housemates stealing my milk for their breakfasts. Switched to OJ and voila no more problems.

Had a big bowl this morning and am just packing for a dive

 

[boulderjohn]

When the post saying that fatty foods and caffeine affect DCS was challenged, the response was about dehydration. The degree to which dehydration affects DCS is questionable, but so is the link between the foods mentioned and dehydration. I don't see a link between fatty foods and dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic, but only a mild one. As has been explained by medical experts in a number of threads over the years, the amount of water in a typical cup of American-style coffee more than compensates for the diuretic effect of the caffeine, meaning that it hydrates you more than it dehydrates you. This will be even more true for beverages like tea. I once had someone get on my case when I was drinking some iced green tea between dives, which is an overreaction to a warning that is more myth than reality.

 

[miketsp]

I assume you eat the banana BEFORE getting on the boat? No bananas allowed!

What is it with US divers and bananas? Still living in the dark ages when superstition was rife?
Since most of my diving is in tropical locations it's rare to find a boat that doesn't have bananas available. This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin B6.
A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars which would normally be a disadvantage in dietary terms but is great while diving.
The Potassium is great as both a preventive and treatment for muscle cramps.

 

[tracydr]

I usually eat an omelette or some other egg dish. Always coffee. Water. Maybe some some veggies, ham or cheese if I have an omelette. I love a veggie omelette with Swiss cheese and mushrooms and hot peppers. Or sea food.
Left overs for breakfast is sometimes good, depending on what they are, too.
We always travel with our french press and good coffee so that we don't have to suffer hotel coffee.

 

[danvolker]

All the best research I have read indicates that fat in your diet is actually good, and the real culprit for high blood pressure, heart conditions, obesity, cancer, and of course diabetes or insulin insensitivity ( precursor to adult diabetes) is sugar and high carb intake....this MEANS that breakfast cereals should be terminated....eggs and a small amount of a complex carb ( not bagels or bread which break down immediately to sugar) --or just eggs and olive oil or omelette.

The actual pathway for the sugar damage is A.G.E ( Advanced Glycation End Products).

The conceptual for this re-understanding of why fat is good, and sugar is bad is well done with this Mercola article The 76 Dangers of Sugar to Your Health


This anti-aging article by Mercola actually explains the Advanced Glycation End Products pathway and damage in an ideal way for most people on SB....and relates it to the food choices you make, including breakfast. Why Avoiding Sugar is a Good Anti-Aging Strategy


In case Mercola gets on your nerves, here is the A.G.E. issue from a standard medical source Glucose, Advanced Glycation End Products, and Diabetes Complications: What Is New and What Works , but you still will find that Mercola explains this better

And from a food site, the Advanced Glycation End Product story with food suggesations --- Advanced Glycation End Products - AGEs You!

 

[Storker]

I need my fiber and slow carbs in the morning and don't feel very well on a high-protein and/or high-fat breakfast. So the full English (or other nutritionally similar breakfasts) is just for the occasional pig-out, not even a half dozen times per year.

Before diving I'm having the same type of breakfast I'm having before any other moderate physical activities: A bowl of cereal - or rolled oats - with skim milk, or a couple of slices of whole wheat bread with cheese, cold cuts and/or marmalade plus a big glass of skim milk. Add a couple of cups of coffee, and I'm ready for anything. For more strenuous outings, like a day's hike, I'll load up more thoroughly on the slow carbs: Large bowl of rolled oats with milk and raisins, or oatmeal, and three to four slices of whole wheat bread. And the coffee, of course. I'm a coffee addict.

---------- Post added June 17th, 2013 at 03:12 PM ----------

All the best research I have read indicates that fat in your diet is actually good, and the real culprit for high blood pressure, heart conditions, obesity, cancer, and of course diabetes or insulin insensitivity ( precursor to adult diabetes) is sugar and high carb intake....this MEANS that breakfast cereals should be terminated....

That totally depends on the type of cereal. If it's high in sugar, I tend to agree. But a sugar-free cereal with lots of fiber and slow carbs won't spike your blood sugar and insulin. There are also more and more indications that a high-fat diet is really bad for your coronary system, and the myth that sugar causes diabetes is... a myth. Obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes, though, and quite a few of the obese eat way too much sugar, so there's an indirect link. But it's the obesity which does the damage, not the carbohydrates.

 

[danvolker]

I need my fiber and slow carbs in the morning and don't feel very well on a high-protein and/or high-fat breakfast. So the full English (or other nutritionally similar breakfasts) is just for the occasional pig-out, not even a half dozen times per year.

Before diving I'm having the same type of breakfast I'm having before any other moderate physical activities: A bowl of cereal - or rolled oats - with skim milk, or a couple of slices of whole wheat bread with cheese, cold cuts and/or marmalade plus a big glass of skim milk. Add a couple of cups of coffee, and I'm ready for anything. For more strenuous outings, like a day's hike, I'll load up more thoroughly on the slow carbs: Large bowl of rolled oats with milk and raisins, or oatmeal, and three to four slices of whole wheat bread. And the coffee, of course. I'm a coffee addict.

Just so you know, whole wheat bread is practically as bad as eating pure white sugar---bread as part of the "food pyramid" is one of the great lies of Nutrition in this country. . Raisins are very high in sugar as well.
Oatmeal is small quantities is not that bad--relatively speaking, a much slower Glycemic Response.



[h=1]Wheat Bread Is Not a Healthy Food[/h]Posted on March 23rd, 2009 by admin | 3 Comments »
Bread symbolizes life and nourishment. It would be hard to look at it in another way. Since 1990, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines have recommended the daily consumption of 6 to 11 servings of bread (though the government’s food pyramid doesn’t say the types of grains you should include in your diet).
The Bleached Truth about White Bread
White bread is made from wheat flour without the bran and the germ, and is often bleached to remove any yellow coloring and extend its shelf life.
Flour mills use nitrogen oxide, chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl, benzoyl peroxide and various chemical salts as chemical bleaches. Chloride oxide is particularly worrisome because it combines with the residue protein left in the flour to form alloxan, a poison used to produce diabetes in lab animals. The use of chloride oxide strips the flour of vital wheat germ oil. The process of making the flour white also destroys half of the good unsaturated fatty acids and virtually kills all of the nutrients.
A study done by the University of California’s College of Agriculture revealed that when the wheat germ and bran are removed, the entire vitamin E content is lost and almost 50 percent of calcium, 70 percent of phosphorus, 80 percent of iron, 98 percent of magnesium, 75 percent of manganese, 50 percent of potassium, 65 percent of copper, 80 percent of thiamin, 60 percent of riboflavin, 75 percent of niacin, 50 percent of pantothenic acid and about 50 percent of pyridoxine are also destroyed.
So, aside from tasting bland, the white bread you get is left with only poor quality proteins and fattening starch.
The Many Hazards of Eating Wheat
Many consumers have become aware of the many deficiencies of white bread and are now buying wheat bread instead, believing that it is more nutritious and therefore, healthier.
The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “whole wheat bread offers a nutritional advantage over white bread.”
This may be true to some extent but according to Dr. Mercola, wheat bread is likely to cause health problems for a lot of people.
It may be hard to believe this at first because of the conventional belief that organic whole grains are healthy for everyone. Even Dr. Mercola agreed to this theory as a med student and it was only after 15 years of research outside of medical school that he learned that grains — even organic whole grains, and especially wheat — are a major reason why many people get sick from a wide variety of diseases.
The main reason why grains should not be considered as health food is that they will typically lead to a rise in your insulin levels. But what happens when your insulin levels increase?
• weight problems
• high blood pressure
• high blood cholesterol
• Type 2 diabetes
• cancer
Wheat also contains mycotoxins (toxins produced by fungus), so matter what the form wheat takes — whole wheat, cracked wheat, sprouted wheat, and so on — they are all capable of causing health problems, including:
• Celiac disease
• rheumatoid arthritis
• miscarriages
• headaches
• infertility
• developmental delay in children
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disorder which has been associated with conditions ranging from diabetes, anemia, short stature, infertility, Down syndrome and diarrhea. Patients suffering from Celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
According to a study done in 32 states, almost 2 million Americans suffer from Celiac disease but majority of the people in the U.S. are unaware of this illness.
Another not-so appetizing fact about wheat: wheat flour is used to make glues for book binding and wall-papering and is also the key ingredient for paper mache mortar.
For Dr. Mercola, one of the most important changes you can make to your diet is to limit or if necessary, completely eliminating wheat from your diet. This will also benefit your weight loss efforts. You can also find out what foods to eat and which ones to avoid by identifying your Nutritional Type.

 

[Storker]

Just so you know, whole wheat bread is practically as bad as eating pure white sugar---bread as part of the "food pyramid" is one of the great lies of Nutrition in this country. . Raisins are very high in sugar as well.
Oatmeal is small quantities is not that bad--relatively speaking, a much slower Glycemic Response.

1: IME, US "whole wheat" bread and Scandinavian whole grain bread are two totally different creatures. I had a hard time finding decent whole grain bread when I lived in your country. Don't use your processed industrial breads as examples of North European breads.
2: Biochemically, we still burn carbohydrates as our primary source of energy, regardless of all those low-carb fads. Just as we did when we crawled up from the ocean several millions of years before Mr. Atkins and his like started appearing in media. Biochemical fact: If you don't get enough carbs to burn for energy to your brain, your body needs to convert the protein to carbs before it burns it. Fat is metabolized through another pathway, though, but you need to be very, very careful with your high-fat diet to avoid too much saturated fats which clog up your arteries. And fat metabolism can't feed your brain, that's another biochemical fact.
3: I know that raisins are high in sugar. I use that deliberately to kick-start my metabolism, but I complement that with slow carbs that keep me going for a long time, avoiding the sudden drop in blood sugar that follows a too sugar-rich meal. And from extensive experience with day-long hikes and 100k bike rides, I also know that oat keeps me going longer than most other foodstuffs before my blood sugar gets too low, while a high-protein/high-fat breakfast is the absolute worst I can eat before that kind of activity.

Wheat Bread Is Not a Healthy Food

[snip]

Sorry, buddy, I'm inherently skeptical to all those arguments about one single foodstuff suddenly becoming the great scourge, guilty of all health problems. I'm relying on proven conventional nutritional science and living according to conventional Scandinavian health advice: Minimize sugar, white flour and saturated fats. Eat balanced amounts of protein, marine fats, veggies and slow carbs - including whole grain bread. That diet has kept me healthy for almost 50 years, and I expect it to keep me healthy for a couple more decades

 

[cocoajoe]

All the best research I have read indicates that fat in your diet is actually good, and the real culprit for high blood pressure, heart conditions, obesity, cancer, and of course diabetes or insulin insensitivity ( precursor to adult diabetes) is sugar and high carb intake....this MEANS that breakfast cereals should be terminated....eggs and a small amount of a complex carb ( not bagels or bread which break down immediately to sugar) --or just eggs and olive oil or omelette.

The actual pathway for the sugar damage is A.G.E ( Advanced Glycation End Products).

The conceptual for this re-understanding of why fat is good, and sugar is bad is well done with this Mercola article The 76 Dangers of Sugar to Your Health


This anti-aging article by Mercola actually explains the Advanced Glycation End Products pathway and damage in an ideal way for most people on SB....and relates it to the food choices you make, including breakfast. Why Avoiding Sugar is a Good Anti-Aging Strategy


In case Mercola gets on your nerves, here is the A.G.E. issue from a standard medical source Glucose, Advanced Glycation End Products, and Diabetes Complications: What Is New and What Works , but you still will find that Mercola explains this better

And from a food site, the Advanced Glycation End Product story with food suggesations --- Advanced Glycation End Products - AGEs You!

Bingo! Sugar or rather too much sugar (carbs) is the real enemy. There's alot of mis-information out there so beware of hype