The Secrets to a Healthy Breakfast

 

It’s often touted as the most important meal of the day, but how much do we really know about breakfast?

For starters, the term breakfast literally means break fast. This is because while you are sleeping, you are technically fasting throughout the night. This is why it’s so important to fuel your body with healthy nutrients after you wake up from a good night’s sleep. If you don’t eat breakfast, start small. The goal is to train your body to tolerate breakfast in the morning. Do this by starting small. Start with drinking 2 cups of water

Studies that support breakfast:

• Skipping breakfast shown to increase a woman’s risk for diabetes
• Not eating breakfast is also linked to an increased risk for heart disease in men. Skipping breakfast is associated with high blood pressure, insulin resistance and high blood sugar.
• A study published in the journal of the American Dietetic Association found that eating breakfast was related to increased memory and test scores in kids.
• Eating healthy fats and protein in the AM will help your body become more efficient at burning these foods throughout the day.

Our Top Rules for a Healthy Breakfast

1. Eat a balanced breakfast within one hour of waking up. This will help to jumpstart our metabolism so our bodies become more efficient at burning calories throughout the day.
2. Don’t have a breakfast full of sugar. Avoid doughnuts, croissants, and sweet breads in the AM
3. Make sure your breakfast has a balance of:
   • protein (eggs, peanut butter, protein powder, greek yogurt, tofu)
   • a healthy fat (nuts/nut butters, chia seeds, flax seeds, avocado, nuts)
   • complex carbohydrates (whole grain toast, oatmeal, steel cut oats, cereal — make sure they are 100% whole grain/wheat, more than 3 grams of fiber, less than 6 grams of sugar)
   • Fruit and/or vegetables

Our Top Healthy Breakfast Ideas

JESS:

• Whole wheat toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter + a sliced banana + dash of cinnamon
• Green smoothie
• Smoothie: 1/4 avocado, 1 tablespoon of hemp protein powder, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 1/2 cup of raspberries, 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Oatmeal, 1 tablespoon of almond butter + 1 cup of fruit
• Avocado toast

WENDY:

• Green Smoothie
• Egg Sandwich (1 egg, 1/2 slice of cheese, onions and pepper)
• Multigrain almond cereal from Trader Joe’s
• Veggie omelet + sauteed potatoes

Prepping breakfast only takes 10-15 minutes for us in the AM. If you have no time at all, have on-the-go breakfasts on hand, like non-fat plain greek yogurt and fruit.

For more info on the benefits of breakfast, click here.

What are your favorite breakfast ideas? Let us know in the comments below! Also if you liked this podcast, make sure to rate it and leave a review + share with all of your friends via the interwebs. Thanks for tuning in!