What did your breakfast actually give you?
Take the 60-second breakfast score and see how much fibre, protein and steady energy your morning meal gives you.
26/10/20265 min readInteractive
Most of us judge breakfast by one question: did it fill me up? A cup of chai and two biscuits fills the gap for an hour. A plate of poha does it for a little longer. A skipped breakfast does it for nobody, but plenty of us still do it four days a week.
The better question is what the meal gave your body after a 10 to 12 hour gap since dinner. Your body has been running all night. In the morning it needs fuel that lasts, some protein to repair and build, and fibre to keep digestion moving and hunger in check.
So before you read further, take the test.
Try it
The 60-second breakfast score
No sign-in. Only your score is counted, anonymously.
What the score is measuring
The quiz looks at four things. None of them needs a nutrition degree.
- Fibre. It slows down how fast food is digested, which keeps you full for longer. Whole grains, fruit, vegetables and pulses carry it. Biscuits, white bread and most packaged cereals carry very little.
- Protein. Milk, curd, eggs, paneer, dal and nuts all count. Protein at breakfast makes the meal last longer than carbohydrates alone.
- Added sugar. A sweet start feels good for 30 minutes and then lets you down.
- Staying power. This is the result of the other three. Did you reach for a snack before 11 AM? That is your answer.
Why mornings go wrong
It is rarely laziness. It is time. Parents are packing tiffins, professionals are catching a train, students are running late. The fastest options on the shelf are usually the weakest ones: biscuits, rusks, sweet cereals, a packet of chips from the canteen.
The fix is a breakfast that is as quick as a biscuit and as filling as a home-cooked meal.
Three small upgrades that change your score
- Add a protein. Chai with biscuits becomes chai with a boiled egg or a handful of roasted chana.
- Swap a refined grain for a whole grain. White bread toast becomes a bowl of barley, oats, jowar or ragi.
- Move the sugar to the side. Sweeten with a few dates or a sliced banana and use less sugar each week.
Where a barley bowl fits
Barley is one of the oldest grains people have eaten, and it carries a soluble fibre called beta-glucan. Cooked with milk, it gives you grain, fibre and milk protein in one bowl, and it is ready in a few minutes.
That is the idea behind Takmeeli Talbeena: roasted barley flour that you cook with milk, sweeten the way your family likes, and eat warm. Each pack is tested at a NABL-accredited lab, and you can read the reports on our lab reports page.
Retake the quiz tomorrow with a barley bowl and compare your two scores.
This article is general information about food and eating habits. It is not medical advice. If you have a health condition or follow a special diet, speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian.
Ready for a better breakfast?