Breakfast is important? (1)

​Q1. Which is better to absorb nutrition if you eat for breakfast?
(A) Tomato (B) Spinach
 
A1. (A) Tomato. The longer the fasting period is, the better the absorption ratio of lycopene is. Lycopene is good to prevent hardening of blood vessels. So if you eat tomato for breakfast, lycopene contained in tomato is easily absorbed.
 
If you eat breakfast deliciously, the rate of digestion and absorption in the intestines will be better because the brain and the intestines are closely related.
 
Q2. Which way of eating is more effective to absorb lycopene contained in a tomato?
(A) As a raw tomato (B) As a heated soup
 
A2. (B) As a heated soup. Heated tomato makes the absorption of lycopene 3 times better. Lycopene is difficult to absorb, but when lycopene is heated, the absorption from the intestines will be better because lycopene is transformed into a form easily absorbed.
 
Required lycopene for a day is equivalent to 3 tomatoes. It is a little difficult to eat them raw. But a can of tomato juice contains the same amount. If you heat a can of tomato juice with microwave, you can easily take required lycopene for a day.
 
Another vegetable recommended to heat is a carrot. A carrot contains beta-carotene which is expected to strengthen the immune system. Beta-carotene is soluble in oil and strong against heat.
 
Q3. Which tomato contains more lycopene?
(A) Deep red (B) Pale red
 
A3. (A) Deep red. Ripe and deep red tomatoes contain about 3 times more lycopene than pale ones.
 
Q4. Which symptom’s risk goes up if you keep skipping breakfast?
(A) Heat in the upper body (B) Sensitivity to cold
 
A4. (B) Sensitivity to cold. In the morning, the internal organs in the body start to move so they need a certain amount of energy. When you eat breakfast, blood starts to flow all over the body. When we don’t eat breakfast, energy stored in the body is used and the decrease of the energy makes us feel cold.
 
Eating warm food is important to raise the body temperature. Also something you need to chew well is good to eat because chewing a lot uses the muscles around the mouth, generating heat.
 
Q5. Which serious disease’s risk goes up if you keep skipping breakfast?
(A) Cerebral hemorrhage (brain hemorrhage) (B) Stomach cancer
 
A5. (A) Cerebral hemorrhage. If you keep skipping breakfast, the risk of cerebral hemorrhage goes up by 36 %.
 
According to a research that 80000 people were surveyed about whether they ate breakfast or not for 13 years, people who ate breakfast 0 to 2 times a week, the risk of cerebral hemorrhage goes up by 36 %.
 
Cerebral hemorrhage tends to happen to people with high blood pressure. Skipping breakfast makes you hungry, causing stress which tends to cause high blood pressure. Stress activates the sympathetic nerve in the brain. The activation of the sympathetic nerve contracts the blood vessels of the whole body, causing high blood pressure.
 
Skipping breakfast continuously elevates blood pressure causing high blood pressure and as a result, the risk of cerebral hemorrhage becomes higher substantially.
 
Q6. Which banana is expected to prevent a common cold when you eat it in the breakfast?
(A) Yellow banana (B) Ripe banana with black spots
 
A6. (B) Ripe banana with black spots. According to the newest research using mouse, ripe banana can be expected to have about 8 times more activation effect of immune system than yellow banana.
 
Q7. Which way of making green tea can produce more catechin which is effective for the prevention of a cold?
(A) With lukewarm water (60 degrees C) (B) With hot boiled water (100 degrees C)
 
A7. (B) With hot boiled water. Catechin is easily extracted by water with high-temperature.
 
Q8. Which grated daikon is more effective to prevent a cold and suppress the inflammation of the throat?
(A) Close to the tip (B) Close to the leaves
 
A8. (A) Close to the tip. Pungent component of daikon called isothiocyanate contains sterilizing component. The part close to the tip of daikon contains 10 times more isothiocyanate than the part close to the leaves. But the pungent component is weak at heat so it is better to eat grated daikon without boiling it.