Why Bread for Breakfast?

No matter where you are in the world, most families take breakfast in the morning.

However, it is not just that they take breakfast, but it is also interesting to know the types of foods that are prepared. Eating breakfast provides energy for your body and gives you drive for the day. Without an adequate breakfast, you are likely to feel inactive and tired throughout the day. By eating a healthful, nutritious breakfast, you are providing your body with important nutrients as well as the energy it needs to perform at its best during the day.

In particular, a breakfast high in fiber and protein can keep you full for longer and prevent tiredness throughout the day.  Eating breakfast has also been shown to improve concentration, meaning you are likely to work more efficiently. However some people still think that a healthful breakfast is expensive and that it is only for rich people. 

Here is the good news - when you take TWB breads for breakfast you are assured that you have eaten a healthful breakfast option. TWB breads are nutritious breads, made using locally available products, and are sold at an affordable price. So stop worrying about where you can get nutritious bread and go to the nearest TWB bakery!  #breadpower

Nutrition and the Rwanda Diet

Last week, The Women’s Bakery started training for 15 women in Remera, with two groups of women (one from Remera; one from Kanombe; both areas of Kigali). On last Friday and continuing this Wednesday, our training team taught three sessions within our nutrition curriculum content. These included nutrition specifics, building a balanced diet, and various food types. From these lesson deliveries, I learned that understanding the cultural practices behind food and nutrition is complex.

From baseline data collected at the beginning of our program two weeks ago, we better understand the context for nutrition that we are working with. Specifically, we learned that out of 15 women the average number of meals per day per woman is 1.6; the average time eating meat per week is 0; and the average time eating eggs per week is 0. Data of this nature leaves us to question whether financial or educational constraints or both are inhibiting factors to accessing a balanced diet.

However, our nutritional lesson training was encouraging! Some of the concepts from the training had an impact not just on me, but hopefully on the women as well.

1) Understanding the difference between saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats is essential in the Rwanda diet. Where French fries and fried dough are coveted food items, educating our group on choosing unsaturated fat such as avocados or plant oils over trans fats and saturated fats was a huge win.

2) Discussing the difference in nutritional value between juice and raw fruit allowed the women to understand that fiber and other nutrients remained in raw fruit and choosing fruit over juice is always a better option.

3) And, understanding that you can gain protein from other sources other than meat such as soy, groundnuts, and egg was essential.

We are excited to keep working through our nutrition education with the women and can’t wait to see what they have to say about the nutrition in our bread recipes!