A Breakfast That Wakes You Up

Dragging through your morning? Then try adding these breakfast favorites to your a.m. menu: yogurt and eggs.

This little diet tweak could help you forget you even have a snooze button, thanks to the extra dose of tyrosine -- a building block for two important wake-up-your-brain chemicals.

Do You Feel Good?
Tyrosine helps make the wake-up brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. "Studies show that people tend to think more quickly and feel more motivated and energetic when their brains are producing large amounts of these chemicals," writes Selene Yeager in the book New Foods for Healing.

In addition to eggs and yogurt, other food sources of tyrosine include almonds, chicken, avocados, bananas, and sesame seeds. Did you know? Starting your day with eggs can help you feel full longer, too.

Two More for the Road
Yeager recommends two more energy sources to help keep you sharp in the a.m.:

• Orange juice -- The vitamin C in orange juice has been shown to help beat fatigue. Vitamin C can also help you stay slim. Here's how.
• Cream of Wheat -- This cereal contains 5 milligrams of iron, a nutrient that's essential for energy, especially in women. Find out how much iron you should be getting each day -- and where to get it.

Recipe Corner
Get cracking! EatingWell has a quick and easy new way to dress up hard-boiled eggs.

New Foods for Healing: Capture the Powerful Cures of More Than 100 Common Foods from Apricots and Bananas to Wine and Yogurt. Prevention Magazine eds., New York: Bantam, 1999.