Start Your Day With a Healthier Breakfast

Breakfast cereals were a terrible invention! Convenient? Yes. Marketing achievement? Sure. “Whole grains” tends to sell well. But dig a little further and you can see why this one meal can derail your attempts to improve your health right out of the gate.

The vast majority of breakfast cereals are over 50 per cent sugar. The rest includes highly processed grains and chemical additives. Many of them make all sorts of health claims but the bad stuff far outweighs any potentially nutritious ingredients. Even those theoretical “whole grains” have been processed beyond recognition so your body immediately breaks them down into a rush of glucose that will leave you feeling hungry and likely lethargic mid-morning.

Even the claims of oatmeal as a health food are sadly misleading especially if the oatmeal in question is the convenient instant or microwaveable form which will immediately spike your blood sugar. Steel-cut oats you have slow cooked in a pan eaten with nuts and seeds and no added sugar may be an option but we can do better.  

The best way to break your fast (ideally of at least 12 hours) is with protein and healthy fats. This will balance your blood sugar and give you the energy and focus you need to start your day. Eggs are an excellent choice but aim for organic, pasture raised eggs and consume the whole egg. Add some healthy fats like avocado, perhaps some greens like arugula and you truly have the breakfast of champions. 

Granola has also been hijacked by the marketing machine but there are some healthier versions especially the grain-free varieties. It’s important to read the ingredients and check the amount of protein and fat compared to sugar. One of my favorite (and quick!) breakfasts is a grain-free granola with some goat’s milk yogurt and blueberries. Yum!

To improve your morning nourishment try preparing one of these easy breakfast recipes, which you can download below: